Abstract
It is not widely recognized that a significant fraction of the chondrules from ordinary chondrites contain silicate grains that survived the chondrule formation process without melting. In the most typical case these grains consist of coarse olivine, rarely orthopyroxene, crystals located in the core of chondrules and displaying a zoning that is inconsistent with crystallization from a silicate melt. The surrounding groundmass contains abundant glass and fine grained euhedral olivines that appear to be of igneous origin. The relict grains still preserve the imprint of processes that occurred in the solar nebula and, in some cases, may include the isotopic record of interstellar grains. The original properties of these chondrules are best preserved in the most unequilibrated ordinary chondrites1–3. I present here important information with regard to the chondrule precursor materials and the process of chondrule formation which was acquired by a compositional and textural study of three of the most unequilibrated type 3 ordinary chondrites.
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution
Access options
Subscribe to this journal
Receive 51 print issues and online access
$199.00 per year
only $3.90 per issue
Buy this article
- Purchase on Springer Link
- Instant access to full article PDF
Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Afiattalab, F. & Wasson, J. T. Geochim. cosmochim. Acta 44, 431–446 (1980).
Sears, D. W., Grossman, J. N., Melcher, C. L., Ross, L. M. & Mills, A. A. Nature 287, 791–795 (1980).
Huss, G. R., Keil, K. & Taylor, G. J. Geochim. cosmochim. Acta 45, 33–51 (1981).
Fredriksson, K. Trans. N.Y. Acad. Sci. 25, 756–769 (1963).
Larimer, J. W. & Anders, E. Geochim. cosmochim. Acta 31, 1239–1270 (1967).
Dodd, R. T. Contr. Mineral. Petrol. 31, 201–227 (1971).
Wasson, J. T. Rev. Geophys. Space Phys. 10, 711–759 (1972).
Gooding, J. L., Keil, K., Fukuoka, T. & Schmitt, R. A. Earth planet Sci. Lett. 50, 171–180 (1980).
Suess, H. E. J. Geol. 57, 600–607 (1949).
Blander, M. & Katz, J. L. Geochim. cosmochim. Acta 31, 1025–1034 (1967).
Wood, J. A. & McSween, H. Y. Jr in Comets Asteroids Meteorites: Interrelations, Evolution and Origins (ed. Delsemme, A. H.) 365–373 (University of Toledo Press, 1977).
Gooding, J. L. & Keil, K. Lunar planet. Sci. 12, 353–355 (1981).
Sorby, H. C. Nature 15, 495–498 (1877).
Fredriksson, K., O'Keefe, J. & Brenner, P. Meteoritics 13, 464 (1978).
Grossman, J. N., Kracher, A. & Wasson, J. T. Lunar planet. Sci. 10, 464–466 (1979).
Clayton, R. N., Mayeda, T. K., Gooding, J. L. & Keil, K. Lunar planet. Sci. 12, 154–156 (1981).
Dodd, R. T. & Walter, L. S. in L'Origine du Système Solaire (ed. Reeves, H.) 293–297 (CNRS, Paris, 1972).
Rambaldi, E. R. & Wasson, J. T. Geochim. cosmochim. Acta 45, 1001–1015 (1981).
Nagahara, H. Nature 292, 135–136 (1981).
Rambaldi, E. R. & Wasson, J. T. Geochim. cosmochim. Acta (submitted).
Fuchs, L. H., Olsen, E. & Jensen, K. J. Smithson. Contr. Earth Sci. 10, 1–39 (1973).
Rambaldi, E. R., Sears, D. W. & Wasson, J. T. Nature 287, 817–820 (1980).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Rambaldi, E. Relict grains in chondrules. Nature 293, 558–561 (1981). https://doi.org/10.1038/293558a0
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/293558a0
This article is cited by
-
Bubbles to Chondrites-I. Evaporation and condensation experiments, and formation of chondrules
Progress in Earth and Planetary Science (2020)
-
Carbon and the formation of reduced chondrules
Nature (1994)
-
Highly fractionated rare-earth elements in ferromagnesian chondrules from the Felix (CO3) meteorite
Nature (1988)
-
The type three ordinary chondrities: A review
Surveys in Geophysics (1987)
-
Cathodoluminescence zoning and minor elements in forsterites from the Murchison (C2) and Allende (C3V) carbonaceous chondrites
Nature (1985)
Comments
By submitting a comment you agree to abide by our Terms and Community Guidelines. If you find something abusive or that does not comply with our terms or guidelines please flag it as inappropriate.
