Investigation of the shocked Viñales ordinary chondrite (L6) meteorite fall – Implications for shock classification, fragmentation, and collision dynamics

Abstract

The effects of collisions on the evolution of asteroids, ranging from local fracturing to brecciation or even to catastrophic disruption, depend primarily on the encounter velocities. Here we present a refined view of the mineralogy and texture of the recent fall Viñales, an L6 ordinary chondrite meteorite. It preserves features that require at least one energetic impact, including numerous shock melt veins of variable thickness. We report the identification of two high-pressure phases, majorite and albitic jadeite, limited to just one of these shock melt veins. Viñales is a moderately shocked sample, shock stage S4, that experienced a complex and spatially variable pressure-temperature-time history with a low (but non-zero) probability of preservation of high-pressure phases.