Abstract
AbstractThe Tissint Martian meteorite is an unusual depleted olivine‐phyric shergottite, reportedly sourced from a mantle‐derived melt within a deep magma chamber. Here, we report major and trace element data for Tissint olivine and pyroxene, and use these data to provide new insights into the dynamics of the Tissint magma chamber. The presence of irregularly spaced oscillatory phosphorous (P)‐rich bands in olivine, along with geochemical evidence indicative of a closed magmatic system, implies that the olivine grains were subject to solute trapping caused by vigorous crystal convection within the Tissint magma chamber. Calculated equilibration temperatures for the earliest crystallizing (antecrystic) olivine cores suggest a Tissint magma source temperature of 1680 °C, and a local Martian mantle temperature of 1560 °C during the late Amazonian—the latter being consistent with the ambient mantle temperature of Archean Earth.
Highlights
The Tissint Martian MeteoriteTissint is one of the least terrestrially weathered Martian meteorites, having been seen to fall in Morocco in 2011 (Irving et al 2012), and collected shortly after ~4 months (Chennaoui Aoudjehane et al 2012)
In addition to Tissint, phosphorus zoning in Martian olivine is reported in Yamato 980459, Northwest Africa (NWA) 1183, Allan Hills (ALHA) 77005, Elephant Moraine (EETA) 79001, Dar al Gani (DaG) 476, and Dhofar 019 (MilmanBarris et al 2008; Shearer et al 2013; Ennis and McSween 2014)
Irregular oscillatory zoning of phosphorus is present within both antecrysts and phenocrysts, with P-enriched bands containing up to 0.25 wt% P2O5
Summary
The Tissint Martian MeteoriteTissint is one of the least terrestrially weathered Martian meteorites, having been seen to fall in Morocco in 2011 (Irving et al 2012), and collected shortly after ~4 months (Chennaoui Aoudjehane et al 2012). Tissint’s crystallization age is 574 Æ 20 Ma, based on Rb–Sr and Sm–Nd isotopic systematics (Brennecka et al 2014), making it one of the oldest known shergottites. Its cosmic ray exposure is in line with some other shergottite meteorites, at 1.05 Ma (Brennecka et al 2014). Tissint is an olivine-phyric shergottite, which exhibits large olivine crystals (up to 2 mm diameter), commonly containing melt inclusions (Balta et al 2015). Phosphate is present in the form of merrillite only—no apatite has been reported (Balta et al 2015). A fine-grained (
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