[meteorite-list] Slickenside

From: Bernd Pauli HD <bernd.pauli_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Thu Apr 22 09:49:02 2004
Message-ID: <3BAE4D7B.833D4792_at_lehrer1.rz.uni-karlsruhe.de>

Charlie wrote:

> Can anyone clarify for me the origin of slickenside in meteorites? I
> understand the term as it applies to terrestrial soils and sediments. I
> have a large individual of Plainview(1917). It's a flat specimen, with
> one side fully crusted. The other side looks more like a broken
> surface, with crust lipping over the edge from the crusted side. This
> "broken" surface is covered with glossy striations in large patches that
> I'm assuming is slickenside. What I would like to know is if this
> slickenside formed during a tectonic event on the parent body, an impact
> event in space, explosive breakup in earth's atmosphere, or other?


Hello Charlie and List,

All I can contribute is a comment from our former, very
competent list member Frank Stroik many years ago:

"slickensides are identified by shiny mirror like surfaces on an
otherwise rough rock - they are the product of faulting in a rock
body; as the crust shifts, even slightly, the roughness of the rock
tends to smooth."

... and some meteorites that are reported to exhibit slickensides:

Magombedze (H6): In places where the meteorite has been broken exactly
along these veins, exposed metal grains are smeared and streaked and
show obvious slickensides [MacPHERSON G.J. et al. (1993) Magombedze:
A new H chondrite with light-dark structure (Meteoritics 28-1, 1993,
138-142)].

ALHA77225 (H4): The B surface has what appear to be slickensides, but
because of the severe weathering of the specimen it is impossible to
determine this unambiguously [MARVIN U.B. and MASON B. (1982) Catalog
of Meteorites from Victoria Land, Antarctica, 1978-1980 (Smithsonian
Contributions 24, p. 23)].

ALHA77254 (L5): The B surface has slickensides [Marvin, U.B. and
Mason B. (1980) Catalog of Antarctic Meteorites, 1977-1978,
Smithson. Contr. Earth Sci. 23, p.32].

ALHA78108 (H5): Many slickensided surfaces were exposed during
processing [MARVIN U.B. and MASON B. (1982) Catalog of Meteorites
from Victoria Land, Antarctica, 1978-1980 (Smithson. Contr. 24, p. 28)].

LON 94102 (C2): Slickenside-like features are visible on
the surface (Macroscopic Description: Kathleen McBride)

> Also, regarding Plainview(1917), can anyone tell me if the newest
> edition of the Catalog makes reference to this meteorite being a
> possible witnessed fall from 1903(?)?

No, Charlie, it doesn't.

Best wishes,

Bernd
Received on Sun 23 Sep 2001 05:00:43 PM PDT