The Shaw meteorite: History of a chondrite consisting of impact-melted and metamorphic lithologies

Abstract

The Shaw L-group chondrite consists of three intermingled lithologies. One is light-colored and has a poikilitic texture, consisting of olivine (many skeletal and euhedral) and augite crystals surrounded by larger (up to 1 mm) orthopyroxene grains; plagioclase occurs between orthopyroxene crystals and rare, small (<5 μm) patches of Si-K-rich glass or cryptocrystalline material occurs within the plagioclase. The skeletal olivine crystals contain 0.08–0.16 wt% CaO. Petrofabric measurements show that the c-axes of the olivines are aligned. The light-colored lithology also contains numerous vugs and vesicles: SEM studies reveal euhedral, possibly vapor-deposited, crystals of olivine and pyroxene in the vugs. A second lithologic type is dark-colored, contains remnant chondrules. and has a microgranular texture. Poikilitic orthopyroxene crystals, where present, are smaller (0.1–0.2mm) than they are in the light-colored lithology. Microgranular olivine crystals contain <0.08 wt% CaO: most contain 0.03–0.05 wt% CaO. Vugs are rare and Si-K-rich material is absent. The third lithologic type is gray macroscopically and seems to be intermediate between the other two. It has a well-developed poikilitic texture, but contains neither skeletal olivines (euhedral olivines are rare) nor Si-K-rich material: remnant chondrules are present but less abundant than in the dark lithology. A modal analysis of a 5300 mm 2 slab shows, contrary to published opinions, that Shaw contains normal L-group chondrite abundances of metal and troilite. However, these phases are distributed irregularly throughout the meteorite. The light colored lithology is nearly devoid of metal and troilite and centimeter-sized metal-troilite globules occur between the three silicate lithologies. Wherever the metal occurs, it consists of nearly homogeneous martensite (13.9 wt% Ni) rimmed by kamacite (7.1 wt% Ni). These data indicate that Shaw is a partly-melted shock-breccia. The light-colored lithology must have been totally melted, as shown by the presence of aligned. CaO-rich, skeletal olivines; Si-K-rich residual material: and vugs and vesicles lined with euhedral crystals of mafic silicates. The dark areas appear to be unmelted target rock of L-group composition. Analysis of the growth of kamacite at the taenite (now martensite) borders indicates a cooling rate of ~ 3 C/10 3 yr. or one thousand times faster than most ordinary chondntes. The Shaw impact event probably formed a crater several kilometers in diameter on its meteorite parent body.