A plagioclase–olivine–spinel–magnetite inclusion from Maralinga (CK): evidence for sequential condensation and solid–gas exchange

Abstract

We report a detailed petrography, mineral chemistry, and trace element study of MaTroc, a large calcium–aluminum-rich inclusion (CAI) (5 × 2.5 mm) of irregular triangular shape. The inclusion has a zonal structure: The core consists of a porous plagioclase–olivine–Ca-rich pyroxene intergrowth with subordinate apatite. Its texture is meta-gabbro-like, similar to other plagioclase–olivine inclusions (POIs). The mantle has variable thickness (0.1–1.5 mm) and consists of a compact symplectitic intergrowth of spinel (hercynite) and plagioclase with abundant dispersed magnetite, subordinate Ca-rich pyroxene, and traces of sulfides. The thin (5–50 μm) discontinuous crust of MaTroc consists mainly of plagioclase with some olivine and magnetite. The Mg-Fe phases of MaTroc are Fe-rich: olivine has Fa33.2 and high NiO content, similar to that in the host rock, Ca-rich pyroxene has much lower TiO 2 and Cr 2O 3 contents than that of the host chondrite, and plagioclase is An55–An74. Magnetites have variable compositions, are poorer in Al 2O 3 and Cr 2O 3 and richer in NiO than those in the host. Spinels have also variable compositions, rich in FeO, NiO, and ZnO. Despite their different mineralogy, both core and mantle have bulk trace element abundances similar to those in average group II CAIs. However, the mantle is richer in Nb and U and poorer in Eu, Be, B, Sr, and Li than the core. All minerals have high trace element contents. Minerals in the core show signs of incomplete equilibration of trace elements within and between them. Mantle minerals are far from equilibrium with each other and the bulk system. Spinel and anorthite carry the trace element signature of their precursor melilite (or hibonite), and magnetite contains large amounts of a heterogeneously distributed remnant extremely rich in trace elements (“obscurite”), possibly of a former perovskite. Inclusion MaTroc has a complex history. The POI core probably formed by reaction of an unknown precursor(s) of condensation origin with a vapor to form olivine, plagioclase, clinopyroxene, apatite, and (an) unknown phase(s) that vanished, leaving abundant void space. The spinel-rich mantle is also a secondary mineral assemblage that formed by breakdown of and solid–vapor reactions with a precursor or precursors, possibly melilite (or hibonite). The abundant magnetite formed by reaction of perovskite with an oxidizing vapor and by precipitation from such a vapor. All phases of the inclusion experienced the metasomatic addition of Fe, Ni, and moderately volatile elements such as V, Be, Li, Cr, and Mn—similar to all other constituents of the Maralinga CK chondrite. Phases in MaTroc and in the host rock are close to equilibrium in the distribution of Fe, Mg, Ni, and Mn but far from equilibrium in the distribution of M +3 and M +4 ions. The minor and trace element abundances in the magnetite of the host rock and of MaTroc preclude an origin by oxidation of a metal precursor.