Showing papers by "Gary R. Huss published in 2000"

Calcium-aluminum-rich inclusions from enstatite chondrites: indigenous or foreign?

Abstract: The primary mineral assemblages and initial ^(26)Al/^(27)Al ratios of rare calcium-aluminum–rich inclusions (CAIs) from enstatite (E) chondrites are similar to those of CAIs from other chondrite classes. CAIs from all chondrite classes formed under oxidizing conditions that are much different from the reducing conditions under which the E chondrites formed. Either CAIs formed at an earlier, more oxidizing epoch in the region where E chondrites ultimately formed, or they formed at a different place in the solar nebula and were transported into the E chondrite formation region.

A petrographic, chemical, and isotopic study of calcium‐aluminum‐rich inclusions and aluminum‐rich chondrules from the Axtell (CV3) chondrite

Abstract: Petrographic, compositional, and isotopic characteristics were studied for three calcium-aluminum-rich inclusions (CAIs) and four plagioclase-bearing chondrules (three of them Al-rich) from the Axtell (CV3) chondrite. All seven objects have analogues in Allende (CV3) and other primitive chondrites, yet Axtell, like most other chondrites, contains a distinctive suite of CAIs and chondrules. In common with Allende CAIs, CAIs in Axtell exhibit initial ^(26)Al/^(27)Al ratios ((^(26)Al/^(27)Al)0) ranging from ∼5 × 10^(−5) to 2 Ma after the first CAIs. As in other CV3 chondrites, some objects in Axtell show evidence of isotopic disturbance. Axtell has experienced only mild thermal metamorphism (<600 °C), probably not enough to disturb the Al-Mg systematics. Its CAIs and chondrules have suffered extensive metasomatism, probably prior to final accretion. These data indicate that CAIs and chondrules in Axtell (and other meteorites) had an extended history of several million years before their incorporation into the Axtell parent body. These long time periods appear to require a mechanism in the early solar system to prevent CAIs and chondrules from falling into the Sun via gas drag for several million years before final accretion. We also examined the compositional relationships among the four plagioclase-bearing chondrules (two with large anorthite laths and two barred-olivine chondrules) and between the chondrules and CAIs. Three processes were examined: (1) igneous differentiation, (2) assimilation of a CAI by average nebular material, and (3) evaporation of volatile elements from average nebular material. We find no evidence that igneous differentiation played a role in producing the chondrule compositions, although the barred olivine compositions can be related by addition or subtraction of olivine. Methods (2) and (3) could have produced the composition of one chondrule, AXCH-1471, but neither process explains the other compositions. Our study indicates that plagioclase-bearing objects originated through a variety of processes.

Refractory inclusions from the ungrouped carbonaceous chondrites MacAlpine Hills 87300 and 88107

Abstract: — MacAlpine Hills (MAC) 87300 and 88107 are two unusual carbonaceous chondrites that are intermediate in chemical composition between the CO3 and CM2 meteorite groups. Calcium-aluminum-rich inclusions (CAIs) from these two meteorites are mostly spinel-pyroxene and melilite-rich (Type A) varieties. Spinel-pyroxene inclusions have either a banded or nodular texture, with aluminous diopside rimming Fe-poor spinel. Melilite-rich inclusions (Ak4–42) are irregular in shape and contain minor spinel (FeO <1 wt%), perovskite and, more rarely, hibonite. The CAIs in MAC 88107 and 87300 are similar in primary mineralogy to CAIs from low petrologic grade CO3 meteorites but differ in that they commonly contain phyllosilicates. The two meteorites also differ somewhat from each other: melilite is more abundant and slightly more Al-rich in inclusions from MAC 88107 than in those from MAC 87300, and phyllosilicate is more abundant and Mg-poor in MAC 87300 CAIs relative to that in MAC 88107. These differences suggest that the two meteorites are not paired. The CAI sizes and the abundance of melilite-rich CAIs in MAC 88107 and 87300 suggests a genetic relationship to CO3 meteorites, but the CAIs in both have suffered a greater degree of aqueous alteration than is observed in CO meteorites. Aluminum-rich melilite in CAIs from both meteorites generally contains excess 26Mg, presumably from the in situ decay of 26Al. Although well-defined isochrons are not observed, the 26Mg excesses are consistent with initial 26Al/27Al ratios of approximately 3–5 times 10−5. An unusual hibonite-bearing inclusion is isotopically heterogeneous, with two large and abutting hibonite crystals showing significant differences in their degrees of mass-dependent fractionation of 25Mg/24Mg. The two crystals also show differences in their inferred initial 26Al/27Al ratios, 1 × 10−5vs. ≤3 × 10−6.