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Unusual large chromite crystals in the Saint Aubin iron meteorite
Author(s) -
Fehr Karl Thomas,
Carion Alain
Publication year - 2004
Publication title -
meteoritics and planetary science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.09
H-Index - 100
eISSN - 1945-5100
pISSN - 1086-9379
DOI - 10.1111/j.1945-5100.2004.tb00349.x
Subject(s) - chromite , meteorite , spinel , materials science , homogeneous , parent body , phase (matter) , vanadium , mineralogy , geology , metallurgy , chemistry , astrobiology , chondrite , physics , thermodynamics , organic chemistry
Abstract— In the Saint Aubin octahedrite, chromite crystals of up to 3 cm occur enclosed in the metal phase. They are twinned along [111] according to the spinel law and display pseudohexagonal shapes in cross‐sections. The crystals are homogeneous and exhibit compositions close to pure chromite endmember. Vanadium is the only additional element observed in appreciable amounts of up to 0.73 wt%. Chromite in the Saint Aubin meteorite crystallized from liquids with very low amounts of Cr and O close to the Fe‐FeS join as indicated by its composition and phase relations. The growth of large chromite crystals implies stable supersaturated conditions for a long period in the meteorite parent body of Saint Aubin.