45th Lunar and Planetary Science Conference (2014) 2554.pdf ASSESSMENT OF THE MESOSIDERITE-DIOGENITE CONNECTION AND AN IMPACT MODEL FOR THE GENESIS OF MESOSIDERITES. T. E. Bunch1,3, A. J. Irving2,3, P. H. Schultz4, J. H. Wittke1, S. M. Ku- ehner2, J. I. Goldstein5 and P. P. Sipiera3,6 1Dept. of Geology, SESES, Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, AZ 86011 (
[email protected]), 2Dept. of Earth & Space Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, 3Planetary Studies Foundation, Galena, IL, 4Dept. of Geological Sciences, Brown University, Providence, RI, 5Dept. of Geolo- gy, University of Massachusetts, Amherts, MA, 6Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago, IL. Introduction: Among well-recognized meteorite 34) is the most abundant silicate mineral and in some classes, the mesosiderites are perhaps the most com- clasts contains inclusions of FeS, tetrataenite, merrillite plex and petrogenetically least understood. Previous and silica. Three of the ten norite clasts contain a few workers have contributed important information about tiny grains of olivine (Fa24-32). A single, fine-grained “classic” falls and Antarctic finds, and have proposed breccia clast was found in NWA 5312 (see Figure 2). several different models for mesosiderite genesis [1]. Unlike the case of pallasites, the co-occurrence of met- al and silicates (predominantly orthopyroxene and cal- cic plagioclase) in mesosiderites is inconsistent with a single-stage “igneous” history, and instead seems to demand admixture of at least two separate compo- nents. Here we review the models in light of detailed ex- amination of multiple specimens from a very large mesosiderite strewnfield in Northwest Africa. Many specimens (totaling at least 80 kilograms) from this area (probably in Algeria) have been classified sepa- rately by us and others; however, in most cases the Figure 1.