The chemistry and origin of the ordinary chondrites: Implications from refractory‐lithophile and siderophile elements

Abstract

Thirty‐eight ordinary chondrites (17 H, 20 L, and 1 LL) have been analyzed for major and selected trace elements. These data indicate that the lithophile elements Mg, Ca, Al, Cr, and V normalized to Si are in higher abundance in the H than in the L chondrites. The siderophile elements Ni, Co, and Fe show very good correlation within, as well as between, the two major ordinary chondrite groups. Twenty‐four of our analyses are of Antarctic finds, while ten are samples of falls. Comparing the Antarctic data with the fall data reveals no evidence that any of the elements studied here have been mobilized by terrestrial weathering processes. Within the H and L chondrite groups there is little chemical variation, indicating that the source of these samples is remarkably homogeneous. Equilibrium condensate fractionation from a nebula of CI composition can result in the observed ordinary chondrite compositions. The fractionation of metal at about 1440°K (and 10−3 atm) into high and low iron groups, followed by a gas‐solid fractionation at about 1380°K with the H group losing more solids than the L, will produce the observed H and L compositions and intragroup trends.