TY - JOUR
T1 - QUE 94204
T2 - A primitive enstatite achondrite produced by the partial melting of an E chondrite-like protolith
AU - Izawa, Matthew R.M.
AU - Flemming, Roberta L.
AU - Banerjee, Neil R.
AU - Matveev, Sergei
N1 - Copyright:
Copyright 2011 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.
PY - 2011/11
Y1 - 2011/11
N2 - Queen Alexandra Range (QUE) 94204, an enstatite achondrite, is a coarse-grained, highly recrystallized, chondrule-free and unbrecciated rock dominated (about 70vol%) by anhedral, equigranular crystals of orthoenstatite of nearly endmember composition (Fs0.1-0.4, Wo0.3-0.4) with interstitial plagioclase, kamacite, and troilite. Abundance of approximately 120° triple junctions and the close association of metal-sulfide and plagioclase-rich melts indicate that QUE 94204 has undergone limited partial melting with inefficient melt extraction. Mineral chemistry indicates a high degree of thermal metamorphism. Kamacite in QUE 94204 contains between 2.09 and 2.55wt% Si, similar to highly metamorphosed EL chondrites. Plagioclase has between 4.31 and 6.66wt% CaO, higher than other E chondrites but closer in composition to plagioclase from metamorphosed EL chondrites. QUE 94204 troilite contains up to 2.55wt% Ti, consistent with extensive thermal metamorphism of an E chondrite-like precursor. Results presented in this study indicate that QUE 94204 is the result of low degree, (about 5-20vol%, probably toward the lower end of this range) partial melting of an E chondrite protolith. Textural and chemical evidence suggests that during the metamorphism of QUE 94204, melts formed first at the Fe,Ni-FeS cotectic near approximately 900°C, followed by plagioclase-pyroxene silicate partial melts near approximately 1100°C. Neither the Fe,Ni-FeS nor the plagioclase-pyroxene melts were efficiently segregated or extracted. QUE 94204 belongs to a grouplet of similar "primitive enstatite achondrites" that are analogous to the acapulcoites-lodranites, but that have resulted from the partial melting of an E chondrite-like protolith.
AB - Queen Alexandra Range (QUE) 94204, an enstatite achondrite, is a coarse-grained, highly recrystallized, chondrule-free and unbrecciated rock dominated (about 70vol%) by anhedral, equigranular crystals of orthoenstatite of nearly endmember composition (Fs0.1-0.4, Wo0.3-0.4) with interstitial plagioclase, kamacite, and troilite. Abundance of approximately 120° triple junctions and the close association of metal-sulfide and plagioclase-rich melts indicate that QUE 94204 has undergone limited partial melting with inefficient melt extraction. Mineral chemistry indicates a high degree of thermal metamorphism. Kamacite in QUE 94204 contains between 2.09 and 2.55wt% Si, similar to highly metamorphosed EL chondrites. Plagioclase has between 4.31 and 6.66wt% CaO, higher than other E chondrites but closer in composition to plagioclase from metamorphosed EL chondrites. QUE 94204 troilite contains up to 2.55wt% Ti, consistent with extensive thermal metamorphism of an E chondrite-like precursor. Results presented in this study indicate that QUE 94204 is the result of low degree, (about 5-20vol%, probably toward the lower end of this range) partial melting of an E chondrite protolith. Textural and chemical evidence suggests that during the metamorphism of QUE 94204, melts formed first at the Fe,Ni-FeS cotectic near approximately 900°C, followed by plagioclase-pyroxene silicate partial melts near approximately 1100°C. Neither the Fe,Ni-FeS nor the plagioclase-pyroxene melts were efficiently segregated or extracted. QUE 94204 belongs to a grouplet of similar "primitive enstatite achondrites" that are analogous to the acapulcoites-lodranites, but that have resulted from the partial melting of an E chondrite-like protolith.
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U2 - 10.1111/j.1945-5100.2011.01263.x
DO - 10.1111/j.1945-5100.2011.01263.x
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:80155129566
VL - 46
SP - 1742
EP - 1753
JO - Meteoritics and Planetary Science
JF - Meteoritics and Planetary Science
SN - 1086-9379
IS - 11
ER -