TEM investigations on the monomict ureilites Jalanash and Hammadah Al Hamra 064

Abstract

We studied the petrography and mineralogy of two monomict ureilites, Hammadah al Hamra 064 (HH064) and Jalanash, by using reflected light and scanning electron microscopy. Quantitative analyses were performed by electron microprobe and the microstructures were investigated with transmission electron microscopy (TEM). HH064 features two different textures, a poikilitic and a typical one, whereas Jalanash shows only the typical ureilite texture. Our synergetic chemical and microstructural investigations reveal a complex cooling history for both ureilites. The temperature for the first equilibrium deduced from the pigeonite-augite assemblage in HH064 is ~1200°C. The presence of antiphase domains in low-Ca pyroxenes proves that they are clearly pigeonite. The occurrences of tweed microstructure and orthopyroxene lamellae, which are incompletely developed, imply a faster cooling rate from the first equilibrium with a sudden end. Although both ureilites contain shock induced diamonds, dislocations in silicates are rare. This observation suggests that the meteorites were hot at the time of strong shock metamorphism or that they were heated after strong shock metamorphism. After this event, new microstructural features were generated by different cooling processes and were frozen by a final rapid decrease in temperature possibly due to excavation from the ureilite parent body, or bodies.