[meteorite-list] announcement of new type basaltic meteorite in 'Science'

From: marco.langbroek_at_wanadoo.nl <marco.langbroek_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Thu Apr 22 09:50:26 2004
Message-ID: <1018623566.3cb6f64e76d23_at_www2.wanadoo.nl>

Hi all,

A very interesting paper in SCIENCE today. A team of Japanese and American
scientists has investigated the basaltic meteorite NWA 011, and discovered that
this meteorite resembles an Eucrite but is different in some aspects, most
notably the Oxygen Isotope composition. While Eucrite origins are linked with
asteroid 4 Vesta, their results suggest that NWA 011 must be from another
parent body. Palme, in his News & Views item in the same issue of Science,
suggests the option that it is a basalt from the planet Mercury. Below the
abstract of the Yamaguchi et al. paper.

- Marco


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Science Apr 12 2002: 334-336.

A New Source of Basaltic Meteorites Inferred from Northwest Africa 011
 
Akira Yamaguchi,12* Robert N. Clayton,3 Toshiko K. Mayeda,3 Mitsuru Ebihara,4
Yasuji Oura,4 Yayoi N. Miura,5 Hiroshi Haramura,1 Keiji Misawa,12 Hideyasu
Kojima,12 Keisuke Nagao6

Eucrites are a class of basaltic meteorites that share common mineralogical,
isotopic, and chemical properties and are thought to have been derived from the
same parent body, possibly asteroid 4 Vesta. The texture, mineralogy, and noble
gas data of the recently recovered meteorite, Northwest Africa (NWA) 011, are
similar to those of basaltic eucrites. However, the oxygen isotopic composition
of NWA011 is different from that of other eucrites, indicating that NWA011 may
be derived from a different parent body. The presence of basaltic meteorites
with variable oxygen isotopic composition suggests the occurrence of multiple
basaltic meteorite parent bodies, perhaps similar to 4 Vesta, in the early
solar system.
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Received on Fri 12 Apr 2002 10:59:26 AM PDT