THE GEOLOGIC CLASSIFICATIGK of the METEORITES By
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The geologic classification of the meteorites Item Type text; Dissertation-Reproduction (electronic) Authors Elston, Donald Parker, 1926- Publisher The University of Arizona. Rights Copyright © is held by the author. Digital access to this material is made possible by the University Libraries, University of Arizona. Further transmission, reproduction or presentation (such as public display or performance) of protected items is prohibited except with permission of the author. Download date 10/10/2021 10:53:49 Link to Item http://hdl.handle.net/10150/565179 THE GEOLOGIC CLASSIFICATIGK OF THE METEORITES by.. : Donald Parker Elston ■ A Dissertation'' Submitted to the Faculty of th DEPARTMENT OF GEOLOGY In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements For the Degree of . / .. ■ Doctor of Philosophy ; • - 'In the Graduate College ' : THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA GRADUATE COLLEGE I hereby recommend that this dissertation prepared under my direction by Donald P. Elston______________________________ entitled The Geologic Classification of the Meteorites be accepted as fulfilling the dissertation requirement of the degree of _______Doctor of Philosophy______________________ C-'.Cc O-l sertation Director Date i- After inspection of the final copy of the dissertation, the following members of the Final Examination Committee concur in its approval and recommend its acceptance:* s,\x\ 1 V This approval and acceptance is contingent on the candidate's adequate performance and defense of this dissertation at the final oral examination. The inclusion of this sheet bound into the library copy of the dissertation is evidence of satisfactory performance at the final examination. statement by author This dissertation has been submitted in partial fulfillment of requirements for an advanced degree at The University of Arizona and is deposited in the University Library to be made available for bor rowers under rules of the Library. Brief quotations from this dissertation are allowable.without ' special permission, provided that accurate acknowledgment of source is made. Requests for permission for extended quotation from or re production of this manuscript in whole or in part may be granted by the head of the major department or the Dean of the Graduate College when in his.judgment the proposed use of the material is in the in- ■ terests of scholarship. In all other, instances, however, permission must be obtained from the author. Murray carbonaceous chondrite; Specimen Ho. 635.1? 32.7 g? Arizona State University Meteorite Collection, Tempe, Arizona. Murray carbonaceous chondrite ' : ACKNOWIEDGMSKTS The opportunity to study meteorites was made possible through support provided by the Training Act of the United. States Geological Survey, Besuits presented here summarize dissertation work at the University of Arizona, Tucson, undertaken in partial fulfillment of requirements for the PhD degree in. geology, . 1 wish to acknowledge the support of the faculty of the Geology Department of the University of Arizona, in particular Professor Spencer R. Titley,, faculty and disser tation advisor, and Professors Paul E,. Damon,. Robert L. DuEois, John M,' Guilbert, and Evans B, Mayo. The work was made possible by the existence of excellent meteor ite collections at Arizona;State University, Tempe, and at the University of Arizona.,. X wish to thank Professor CarletonB. Moore, Director of Research, Center for Meteorite Studies at Arizona State . University, for the extended loan of several meteorites, for numerous fruitful discussions and manuscript review, and for bringing to my attention unpublished data of his that led to correlations of the hypersthene and bronzite chondrites with the Ga-Ge II and III group irons, respectively. I also wish to acknowledge and thank Dr. Michael B. Duke, Uo S. Geological Survey, for making available thin sections of a number of pyroxene-plagioclase 'achondrites, and for his review of an : early version of this manuscript. Much of. the photographic work was done by Mr, B. D. Lindsay, Jr The.preparation of figures and tables was carried out at facilities at the Center of Astrogeology, U. S. Geological Survey, Flagstaff? Arizona. Thanks are extended to the staff of the Water Resources Division Office of the U. S. Geological-Survey, Tucson, for providing office space and administrative support. ' , ' The meticuluous work of Geoffrey P. Elston, who painstakingly measured amd catalogued map data that led to plots of the size-frequency distribution of materials in the Murray carbonaceous chondrite, is ; gratefully acknowledged. The wholehearted and unselfish support of my wife5 Shirley, is directly responsible for the existence of this manuscript. TABES OF COBTEETS ' . y : . ; . ; ; ; ' Page;: HST OF JLmSTRATIOHS = „ « . 0 0 . 0 . / . , =: o. ,o: ix III S3? OF TABLES, o o o o © o© © © © ©© © © © © ©, © © © © © © © © © xxx ABSxBAOT © © © 0 0 0 ©. © © © o 0 0 © © © o o 0 0 .© © © . 0 0 © © © © 5cx'V* I© Il^ITRODUCTION © © © © © ■ © © © © © © © © © © © © © © © © © © © © 3- : . 2o-. : THE METEOEITE. CLASSES', > . = . „ = . .. « „ . 4 Descriptive Classification ' „ * „ .• *• » . « , » » » 4 Proposed Genetic Classification .. »• . „ « . » „ - s , » . 5 . ' 3.. EVIDENCE FOR GEEETIC GROUPINGS . v . \ . „ . 0 0 0 0 . » . 9 Compositional and Mineralogical Characteristics . „ , . « 9 Chemical Compositions o o o p 0 0 0 0 o 0-0 © - o © © © © 9 . Distrihution of Elements '© ©: © » © ,© © © . © © © © © © - 10 Individuality of the Chondrite Classes © © © © © © © . 16 Correlations "between Chondrites and Achondrites © © © © 20 Petrologic Evidence for the Metamorphism.of Chondrites © © 23 Chemical-petrologic Classification of the Chondrites © ©•© © © © © © © © © © © © © © © © © 23 Mineralogic-petrologic Classification of the. •’ Calcium-poor Stony Meteorites © © © © .©'. „ © .’ © © 26 Correlation of Irons and Pallasites with Chondrites © © © ,. 30 "Ga-Ge Groups © © © © © .© © © © © © © © © © © © © © © © 30 Correlations with the Chondrites © © © © © © © © » Y .© 36 . Summary © © © © © © © © © © © © © © © © © © © © © © © © © © 4l 4© CHOEDEITES, THE FIRST ROCKS © © © © © © © © © © © © © © b .. © » 42 :: : Murray Carbonaceous Chondrite © © © © © © © © © © © © © © © 43 \ : Circumstances of Fall © © © © © © © © ©. © © © © © © © © 43 . General Characteristics © © © © © © © © ,©©©»«©» . 44 Paragenetic and Textural Studies © .©; © © © » © © . © © 48 Recognition of Components ls 29 and 3 in other . ChondripeS © © © © © © © © © © .© © © © © © © © © © © ^6 ■ Chondrule Formation and Chondrite Accretion © © © © © © © © 84 Aggregation of Solids © © © © © 84 Inferred Character of Early Solar System © © © ©. © - © © © © 86 vii TABLE OF COIfTEjNTS--Continued Page Possible Enrichment of Volatile Elements in Inner Part of Component 1 Dust Cloud . „ . » . 91 Evidence for a Common Parent Material . , . 92 Elemental Abundances in Carbonaceous Meteorites and the Solar Photosphere ............ 92 Uniformity of Fe and the Rare Earth Elements in Chondrites ............. ...... 9^ Evidence for a Genetic Relationship between Components 2 and 3 in the Chondrites ...... 96 Model for Accretion of Chondrites and Formation of Farenc Bodies .................... 9^ Character of Parent Bodies for the Chondritic Meoeontes . * . * . .. » 102 5. CALCIUM-RICH ACHOHDRITES ........ ... 106 Pyroxene-plagioclase Achondrites ............. 106 Diopside-olivine and Augite Achondrites .......... 107 Rare Earth Elements and Oxygen Isotopes in Stony Meteorites and Terrestrial Materials . 109 Uniformity of REE in Chondrites ............ 109 Calcium-poor and Calcium-rich Achondrites ....... 113 Meteorites and Terrestrial Mantle Materials ...... 115 Reflectance Characteristics of Stony Meteorites and the Zloon ......... ........ ... 11^ Remanent Magnetism in Meteorites ............. 118 Summary . © © . * . @ 12 ^ 6. METEORITE BRECCIAS 128 Monomict and Polymict Breccias .............. 128 General Descriptions and Definitions of Terms . .. 128 Dense Impactites ................... 157 Classification of the Meteorite Breccias ......... 169 Volatile-rich Breccias ................ 173 Volatile-poor Breccias ................ 17^ Interpretation of Record in Breccias ........... 17^ Comet-asteroid and Interasteroidal Collisions, Breakup of Asteroids, and Formation of Lunar Basins . 174 . Recent Cratering of the Moon ............. 184 Tektites, and Lunar and Terrestrial Craters ...... 189 APPENDIX I. Sources of Data for Table 4 - Elemental Abundances of Meteoritic Materials . « . 198 APPENDIX II. Notes and References for Table 20 .... ,. 208 ,'' \ -7:; .' -,'- ' : ■ , : ; '' " " -;y /' ;:: .^, viii • . v; : : y: . TABIE OF COMEIffS—Continued " ■ APPEMDIX IIIo List of Brecciated Meteorites Arranged in Genetic Groupings • » .. » e o • .•«>•.' 2lh APPEHDIX IVo Ages of Selected Stones and Irons used for Estimating the Ages of Collision Events Outlined in Table 21 „ , 9» o <. i » » «• •„ . ,. „ i . 220 EEFEREHCES CITED ». „ o « . , 0 ». , * , . =• , , , = ». , » « 9 » . 227 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS Figure • 1. Relationship between oxidized iron, and iron as metal and sulfide in analyses of observed falls in chondrites. 17 2„ Olivine composition, determined by X-ray diffraction, showing compositional hiatus in olivine-bronzite and olivine-hypersthene chondrites 19 3. Plot of CaO (weight percent) against FeO/FeO+MgO (mole percent) for the achondrites « . „ „ 0 . » e . » e . 6 . 22 4. Variation of Ga and Ge contents of iron meteorites . » . 32-33 5. Relation between Ga and Ge concentrations in iron