TY - JOUR
T1 - High-pressure phases in a shock-induced melt vein of the Tenham L6 chondrite
T2 - Constraints on shock pressure and duration
AU - Xie, Zhidong
AU - Sharp, Thomas
AU - DeCarli, Paul S.
N1 - Funding Information:
We thank Carlton Moore and the Center for Meteorite Studies at Arizona State University for supplying the sample. We also thank John Wheatley, Karl Weiss, and Zhengquan Liu, and the Center for High Resolution Microscopy at ASU for assistance with the electron microscopy. We also thank Jim Clark for assistance with the electron microprobe. We thank W.U. Reimold, H.Leroux, A.El Goresy, and anonymous reviewer for helpful and critical reviews. We acknowledge NASA Cosmochemistry Grants NAG5-7285, NAG5-9381, and NAG5-1977 for supporting this research.
PY - 2006/1/15
Y1 - 2006/1/15
N2 - The microtexture and mineralogy of a 580-μm-wide melt vein in the Tenham L6 chondrite were investigated using field-emission scanning electron microscopy and transmission electron microscopy to better understand the shock conditions. The melt vein consists of a matrix of silicate plus metal-sulfide grains that crystallized from immiscible melts, and sub-rounded fragments of the host chondrite that have been entrained in the melt and transformed to polycrystalline high-pressure silicates. The melt-vein matrix contains two distinct textures and mineral assemblages corresponding to the vein edge and interior. The 30-μm-wide vein edge consists of vitrified silicate perovskite + ringwoodite + akimotoite + majorite with minor metal-sulfide. The 520-μm-wide vein interior consists of majorite + magnesiowüstite with irregular metal-sulfide blebs. Although these mineral assemblages are distinctly different, the pressure stabilities of both assemblages are consistent with crystallization from similar pressure conditions: the melt-vein edge crystallized at about 23-25 GPa and the vein interior crystallized at about 21-25 GPa. This relatively narrow pressure range suggests that the melt vein either crystallized at a constant equilibrium shock pressure of ∼25 GPa or during a relatively slow pressure release. Using a finite element heat transfer program to model the thermal history of this melt vein during shock, we estimate that the time required to quench this 580-μm-wide vein was ∼40 ms. Because the entire vein contains high-pressure minerals that crystallized from the melt, the shock-pressure duration was at least 40 ms. Using a synthetic Hugoniot for Tenham and assuming that the sample experienced a peak-shock pressure of 25 GPa near the impact site, we estimate that the Tenham parent body experienced an impact with collision velocity ∼2 km/s. Based on a one-dimensional planar impact model, we estimate that the projectile size was >150 m in thickness.
AB - The microtexture and mineralogy of a 580-μm-wide melt vein in the Tenham L6 chondrite were investigated using field-emission scanning electron microscopy and transmission electron microscopy to better understand the shock conditions. The melt vein consists of a matrix of silicate plus metal-sulfide grains that crystallized from immiscible melts, and sub-rounded fragments of the host chondrite that have been entrained in the melt and transformed to polycrystalline high-pressure silicates. The melt-vein matrix contains two distinct textures and mineral assemblages corresponding to the vein edge and interior. The 30-μm-wide vein edge consists of vitrified silicate perovskite + ringwoodite + akimotoite + majorite with minor metal-sulfide. The 520-μm-wide vein interior consists of majorite + magnesiowüstite with irregular metal-sulfide blebs. Although these mineral assemblages are distinctly different, the pressure stabilities of both assemblages are consistent with crystallization from similar pressure conditions: the melt-vein edge crystallized at about 23-25 GPa and the vein interior crystallized at about 21-25 GPa. This relatively narrow pressure range suggests that the melt vein either crystallized at a constant equilibrium shock pressure of ∼25 GPa or during a relatively slow pressure release. Using a finite element heat transfer program to model the thermal history of this melt vein during shock, we estimate that the time required to quench this 580-μm-wide vein was ∼40 ms. Because the entire vein contains high-pressure minerals that crystallized from the melt, the shock-pressure duration was at least 40 ms. Using a synthetic Hugoniot for Tenham and assuming that the sample experienced a peak-shock pressure of 25 GPa near the impact site, we estimate that the Tenham parent body experienced an impact with collision velocity ∼2 km/s. Based on a one-dimensional planar impact model, we estimate that the projectile size was >150 m in thickness.
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U2 - 10.1016/j.gca.2005.09.003
DO - 10.1016/j.gca.2005.09.003
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:30944452144
SN - 0016-7037
VL - 70
SP - 504
EP - 515
JO - Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta
JF - Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta
IS - 2
ER -