Experimental chondrules by melting samples of olivine, clays and carbon with a CO2 laser

Abstract

Chondrules are the major constituents of chondritic meteorites; however, their origin is still an enigma for meteoritic science. In this work we report the results of melting minerals to experimentally generate objects similar to chondrules. The degree of fusion of olivine appears to be an important factor in determining the width of the bars in samples with barred-type olivine (BO) chondrules. On the other hand, the contribution of clays and carbon (possible precursor grains) is an important factor in those experiments where the melted samples showed porphyritic texture.Keywords: experimental chondrules, chondrites, CO 2 laser. Resumen Los condros son los constituyentes principales de las meteoritas condríticas. Sin embargo, su formación sigue siendo un enigma para la ciencia de la meteorítica. En este trabajo se reportan los resultados de la fusión de minerales para obtener fundidos tipo condro. El grado de fusión del olivino es un factor importante para determinar el ancho de las barras de las muestras tipo condros barrados de olivino (BO). Por otra parte, la contribución de arcillas y carbón (posibles componentes de los granos precursores) es un factor importante en los experimentos en los que los fundidos generados tienen textura porfídica.Palabras clave: condros experimentales, condritas, láser de CO 2 .

Morphological transition of silicate crystals solidified from highly undercooled aerodynamically levitated melt droplets

“…For instance, the sample holding technique-based experimental study investigating the surface features of Olivine as the non-metallic system was limited to an undercooling level of 400 °C. Karina et al [12] presented the melting of olivine samples by means of CO 2 laser and obtained textures such as barred olivine, olivine and pyroxene porphyritic chondrules of ordinary chondrites. Faure et al [13] performed high-temperature crystallization experiments with sample holder technique, which offered heterogeneous condition at various undercoolings and cooling rates.…”