Differences in bulk Fe content and density between type I and type II ordinary chondrite chondrules: Implications for parent body heterogeneities in oxidation state and O-isotopic composition

1,2Alan E. Rubin
Meteoritics & Planetary Science (in Press) Open Access
Link to Article [https://doi.org/10.1111/maps.14223]
1Department of Earth, Planetary, and Space Sciences, University of California, Los Angeles, California, US
2Maine Mineral & Gem Museum, Bethel, Maine, USA
Published by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons

Type II chondrules have higher oxidation states than type I chondrules; in ordinary chondrites (OC), type II chondrules tend to be larger, richer in bulk Fe, and have higher densities than type I chondrules. Magnesian type IA chondrules tend to be richer in 16O than type II chondrules. Because the aerodynamic behavior of a particle is a function of the product of its size and density, type I and type II chondrules (or their precursors) were partly separated in the ordinary chondrite zone of the solar nebula prior to the accretion of OC parent asteroids. LL chondrites acquired a chondrule population with the highest type II/type I ratios, L chondrites acquired chondrules with an intermediate ratio, and H chondrites acquired chondrules with the lowest type II/type I ratios. This contributed to the observed differences among OC groups in oxidation state and O-isotopic composition: in going from H to L to LL, mean oxidation state increases and mean Δ17O values increase. Higher oxidation is marked by increases in the FeO contents of olivine, low-Ca pyroxene, chromite, and ilmenite; increases in the TiO2 content of chromite; and increases in the Co content of kamacite.

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