Native silicon and iron silicides in the Dhofar 280 lunar meteorite

Abstract

The Dhofar 280 lunar highland meteorite is the first one in which native silicon was identified in association with iron silicides. This association is surrounded by silicate material enriched in Si, Na, K, and S and occurs within an impact-melt matrix. Compared to the meteorite matrix, the objects with native Si and the silicate material around them show high Al-normalized concentrations of volatile elements and/or elements with low sensitivity to oxygen but are not any significantly enriched in refractory lithophile elements. Some lithophile elements (V, U, Sm, Eu, and Yb) seem to be contained in reduced forms, and this predetermines REE proportions atypical of lunar rocks and a very low Th/U ratio. The admixture of siderophile elements (Ni, Co, Ge, and Sb) suggests that the Si-bearing objects were contaminated with meteorite material and were produced by the impact reworking of lunar rocks. The high concentrations of volatile elements suggest that the genesis of these objects could be related to the condensation of silicate vapor generated during meteorite impacts. The reduction of silicon and other elements could take place in an impact vapor cloud, with the subsequent condensation of these elements together with volatile components. On the other hand, condensates of silicate vapor could be reduced by impact reworking of impact breccias. Impact-induced vaporization and condensation seem not to play any significant role in forming the composition of the lunar crust, but the contents of the products of such processes can be locally relatively high. The greatest amounts of silicate vapor were generated during significant impact events. For example, more than 70% of the total mass of lunar material evaporated in the course of impact events should have resulted from the collision of the Moon with a cosmic body that produced the Moon’s largest South Pole-Aitken basin.