Akimotoite in the Tenham meteorite: Crystal chemistry and high-pressure transformation mechanisms

Type Article
Date 2008-10
Language English
Author(s) Ferroir T1, Beck P2, Van De Moortele B1, Bohn Marcel4, 5, Reynard B1, Simionovici A3, El Goresy A6, Gillet P1
Affiliation(s) 1 : Univ Lyon 1, Ecole Normale Super Lyon, Lab Sci Terre, CNRS, F-69364 Lyon 07, France.
2 : Univ Grenoble 1, Lab Planetol Grenoble, F-38041 Grenoble, France.
3 : OSUG, Lab Geophys Interne & Tectonophys, F-38041 Grenoble, France.
4 : IFREMER, Microsonde Ouest, F-29280 Plouzane, France.
5 : Ctr Brest, CNRS, F-29280 Plouzane, France.
6 : Univ Bayreuth, Bayer Geoinst, D-95440 Bayreuth, Germany.
Source Earth and Planetary Science Letters (0012-821X) (Elsevier), 2008-10 , Vol. 275 , N. 1-2 , P. 26-31
DOI 10.1016/j.epsl.2008.07.048
WOS© Times Cited 26
Keyword(s) Perovskite, Akimotoite, Shock melt vein, Chondrite, Tenham
Abstract The transformation of pyroxene to its high-pressure polymorph akimotoite (MgSiO3 ilmenite type structure) is documented in the shock-induced melt veins of the L6 Tenham chondrite. Four textural relationships between pyroxene and akimotoite are observed in former pyroxene grains entrained in the shear melt vein and in pyroxene grains attached to the wall of the melt vein. In one of the entrained enstatite grains the transformation to akimotoite is partial. One third of the grain is transformed to a polycrystalline aggregate of akimotoite with a scalloped interface with enstatite. Akimotoite (Fe0.4Mg1.24Ca0.07Na0.12Al0.14)(Si1.963Al0.037)O-6 is slightly enriched in Ca (CaO = 1.74%), Al and Na with respect to enstatite (CaO = 0.71%). Narrow bands of polycrystalline akimotoite with three crystallographic orientations and a chemical composition similar to the Surrounding enstatite intersect the other part of the grain. In a second grain entrained in the shear melt vein, tablets of akimotoite are interwoven with a pyroxene glass with a lower Na and Fe content and a higher Mg content compared to the adjacent akimotoite. This pyroxene glass is probably the product of (Mg,Fe)SiO3-perovskite amorphization. Polycrystalline akimotoite is also formed at the expense of enstatite at the vein wall of the shear melt vein. In that case akimotoite is also enriched in Ca (CaO = 2.85%) Na (NaO = 1.72%) and Al (Al2O3=4.14%). All these observations suggest that akimotoite is mainly formed by solid-state transformation of former pyroxenes with subsequent diffusion of calcium, aluminum and sodium from the chondritic melt of the shear melt vein. Finally, the first complete X-ray diffraction pattern of natural akimotoite is presented. (c) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
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