Abstract: Olivine is almost omnipresent in chondrites, being absent only in the enstatite chondrites and a few carbonaceous chondrites. In most chondrites it is the dominant mineral. Since it shows a considerable range of composition, which is directly related to the FeOMgO ratio in the individual meteorite, and since its composition is readily determined either by X-ray diffraction or by refractive index measurement, its composition provides an excellent criterion for the classification of chondrites. This paper reports the olivine composition in about 800 of the approximately one thousand chondrites known; of the chondrites examined, 14 are enstatite chondrites, 364 are olivine-bronzite chondrites, 427 are olivine-hypersthene chondrites, 12 are olivine-pigeonite chondrites, and 17 are carbonaceous chondrites. The significance of these data for theories of the origin of chondrites is briefly discussed, and it is suggested that the different types of chondrites may represent samples from different regions of the pre-planetary solar system.
Publication Year: 1963
Publication Date: 1963-10-01
Language: en
Type: article
Indexed In: ['crossref']
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Cited By Count: 185
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