[meteorite-list] Chondrules

From: Bernd Pauli HD <bernd.pauli_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Thu Apr 22 09:49:00 2004
Message-ID: <3BA4D7A5.39BF5324_at_lehrer1.rz.uni-karlsruhe.de>

Anne inquired:

> How big can they [chondrules] get?

> Which meteorite has the most enormous chondrules?


Hello Anne, Matt, and List,

In the August issue of MAPS, Dr. Kring et al. discuss the Gold Basin
meteorite strewn field and the Gold Basin meteorites themselves. On
page 1059, there is a picture of the large, weathered interior of a
stone with an igneous clast measuring almost 1 cm in diameter. This
clast has a porphyritic igneous texture whose olivine is very similar
to that in the host L4 - the pyroxene is also similar which, according
to the authors suggests the clast is either a fragment of a m e g a -
c h o n d r u l e or an igneous rock. The authors do not mention how
large this megachondrule may have been.

BRIDGES J.C. et al. (1997) A survey of clasts and large chondrules
in ordinary chondrites (Meteoritics 32-3, 1997, 389-394):

Parnallee, LL3 - 3 mm
Bremervörde, H3 - 4 mm
Estacado, H6 - 7 mm and 10mm
Barratta, L4 - 8 mm
Belle Plaine, L6 - 9 mm
Bluff, L5 - 10 mm
Crumlin, L5 - 11 mm
Richardton, H5 - 11 mm
De Nova, L6 - 13 mm
Hajmah, L5-6 - 18 mm

The above-mentioned selection is only chondrules, not clasts.

PRINZ M. et al. (1988) Gunlock, a new type 3 ordinary chondrite
with a golfball-sized chondrule (Meteoritics 23-3, 1988, 297):

The radius is over 2 cm, and the diameter is estimated by
reconstruction to be about 5 cm. This object is clearly
droplet-shaped and is a macrochondrule.


References:

KRING D.A. et al. (2001) Gold Basin Meteorite Strewn Field, Mojave
Desert, Northwestern Arizona: Relict of a Small Late Pleistocene
Impact Event (MAPS 36-8, 2001, pp. 1057-1066).
Received on Sun 16 Sep 2001 12:47:33 PM PDT