Chemical fractionations in meteorites—VIII. Iron meteorites and the cosmochemical history of the metal phase

Abstract

The composition of the metal phase is traced through an idealized, traditional history from condensation, oxidation and accretion in the nebula to melting, segregation and freezing in a parent body. Fifteen elements are considered: Au, Co, Cu, Fe, Ga, Ge, Ir, Mo, Ni, Os, Pd, Pt, Re, Rh and Ru. All are strongly siderophile but differ in volatility and melting-freezing behavior. This simplifies the problem yet provides a means to resolve chemical trends which evolve at different stages in the metal's history. The parent bodies of 5 (IC, IIAB, IIC, IID and IIIAB) of the 12 iron meteorite groups resolved by Scott and Wasson (1975) seem to have had a traditional history. That is condensation, oxidation to various levels, accretion, melting, segregation and fractional crystallization during freezing, presumably in cores. The others seem to have had more unusual histories. The composition of the metal in group IVB matches that predicted for the metal condensate at 1270°K (at P T = 10 −5 atm ). This implies accretion at high temperatures; no other combination of the processes can produce this composition. It does not rule out secondary processing, however. The metal in group IVA, whose members have different cooling rates (7–200°/myr), has a composition indicative of aggregates in a body undergoing progressive stages of partial melting. This is consistent with a model in which molten metal collects into pods or raisins at various depths. The composition of the metal in group IAB is indicative of a partial melt which refroze during the initial stages of segregation, before it had managed to aggregate into a single mass. The physical setting implied is consistent with observed inhomogeneities in the metal and abundant inclusions. Three of the 12 groups are deficient in volatiles (IIIF, IVA and IVB) implying a high accretion temperature. In all three cases, cooling rates are comparatively rapid, indicating small bodies or low radioactive element contents. Conceivably all three were deficient in K.