Agglomeratic olivine (AO) objects and Type II chondrules in ordinary chondrites: Accretion and melting of dust to form ferroan chondrules

Abstract

Agglomeratic olivine objects (AO objects) and possibly related chondrules in three ordinary chondrites (NWA 4910 [LL3.1], NWA 3127 [LL3.1], Sahara 98175 [LL3.5]) were studied using petrographic and microanalytical techniques to evaluate the origins of these materials. AO objects are mixtures of fine-grained (⩽5–10 μm-diameter) ferroan (Fa 12–35) olivine, troilite that is often concentrated towards the periphery of objects, pyroxene, feldspathic material, relict magnesian olivine and pyroxene grains, and relict chondrules. One micro-CAI with a grossite core was also found. AO objects commonly rim chondrules. AO objects show transitional variations in texture and chemistry with Type II chondrules, ranging from AO objects that are finer grained and show no evidence of melting (AO-U objects), to weakly melted and more melted AO objects (AO-WM and AO-M objects, respectively), to fine-grained Type II chondrules (olivine grain size ∼5–60 μm), to coarse-grained Type II chondrules (olivine grain size ∼10–250 μm across); S contents and Na/Al values are typically higher in AO objects than in Type II chondrules. The properties of AO objects and Type II chondrules are interpreted to reflect progressive heating of dust of quasi-chondritic composition, accompanied by grain coarsening during melting, partial loss of the most volatile elements (chiefly S, also Na) during evaporative melting, and back-reaction with gas, to form troilite-rimmed AO objects. Data-model comparisons suggest that progressive heating of chondritic dust to form AO objects and Type II chondrules could have occurred in a dusty environment to yield a transient, oxidizing gas of high pressure (∼10 −3 bar), with gas derived from vaporized dust being much (>500–1000× or even up to 10 4–10 5×) more abundant than ambient solar composition gas. AO objects are protochondrules, but are themselves composed of chondrule debris of different types, suggesting that they represent one step of a chondrule recycling process that also included chondrule disaggregation and additional chemical processing. Our data appear to be compatible with the nebular shock wave model for chondrule formation.