Aligned olivine in the Springwater pallasite |
| |
| Authors: | Neva A Fowler‐Gerace Kimberly T Tait Desmond E Moser Ivan Barker Bob Y Tian |
| |
| Institution: | 1. Department of Earth Sciences, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada;2. Department of Natural History, Mineralogy, Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto, Ontario, Canada;3. Department of Earth Sciences, Western University, London, Ontario, Canada;4. Department of Physics, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada |
| |
| Abstract: | The mechanism by which olivine grains became embedded within iron‐nickel alloy in pallasite meteorites continues to be a matter of scientific debate. Geochemical and textural observations have failed to fully elucidate the origin and history of the olivine crystals; however, little research attention has been devoted to their crystallographic orientations within the metal matrix. Using electron backscatter diffraction, we have collected crystallographic orientation data for 296 crystals within ～65 cm2 sample surface from Springwater. Though no global crystallographic preferred orientation exists, very low misorientations are observed among 100] axes of olivine crystals within specific texturally defined domains. Combined with a thorough characterization of large‐scale Springwater textures, the definitively nonrandom spatial distribution of olivine orientations provides clues regarding the nature of the olivine's initial formation environment as well as the sequence of events subsequent to metal incorporation. |
| |
| Keywords: | |
|
|
