Abstract

The chemistry of iron meteorites is compared to predictions of the chemical fractionations that develop during the cosmic history of the metal phase, from condensation and accretion through melting, segregation and freezing. Of the 12 resolved iron meteorite groups, 3 appear to have evolved in bodies which accreted at T > 1000° K. In several cases, the core-forming process seems to have ceased prematurely, just as the metal began to melt and flow (group IAB with its silicate inclusions) or after the metal aggregated into pods but before it sank to form a core (group IVA, with groups IIAB and IIIAB being in more advanced stages). The Shaw chondrite contains residual metal from a partial melting process, as required to complement the fractional melts which refroze prematurely in the case of group IAB meteorites.

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