Weird bit-o-space (was Re: [meteorite-list] Mega-Chondrule Competition)

From: Darren Garrison <cynapse_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Tue Oct 24 23:04:56 2006
Message-ID: <5uktj2tudlch9367slqgjb8svf8qfho412_at_4ax.com>

(Forwarding this posting from off-list in the hopes of getting comments from the
peanut gallery.)

On Tue, 24 Oct 2006 19:53:34 -0500, you wrote:

> Could the bright white "chondrule" in same
>quadrant be a CAI?
> Could the "zoned, multicolored eggish-
>shaped one" be a clast of another chondrite?
>Or do chondrules just look like a miniature
>meteorite once in a while?
> In complete ignorance, I ask.
>http://webpages.charter.net/garrison6328/tmp/cool_unclassified.jpg

I wish I knew the answer to lots of questions about this piece (and about more
or less any other meteorite) but raw mineralology is one of my weakest areas.
About all that I can handle in identifying mineral species in meteorites is
"this looks cool" and "that looks odd". It seems pretty obvious, though, that
this has a pretty darned low metamorphic grade, and that the chondrules (and
possibly inclusions deserving other names) have had a pretty complex and diverse
history. There is NO visible metal in it, but there are areas where it is
apparent that metal has oxidized away. That could be from long terrestrial
weathering, or it could be ancient, I don't know. The redness of the matrix
does resemble some "R" chondrites to me. I've made a map of some of the
features that interest me:

http://webpages.charter.net/garrison6328/tmp/cu_map.jpg

the "zoned, multicolored" one I mentioned is number 2, of course. It is a
similar size to other chondrules in the piece, so I don't know about the alien
clast thing-- unless it came from something with much smaller chondrules. As
for the possible CAI, you mean in number 3? I donno. It has white areas and
also blueish ones and reddish ones. Lots of complexity there.
Received on Tue 24 Oct 2006 11:04:44 PM PDT