Nuclear track and compositional studies of olivines in CI and CM chondrites

The CI and CM chondrites, with bulk chemical compositions closely resembling solar values, are important for the study of early solar system processes. Noble gas and particle track studies have revealed that a majority of the CI and CM chondrites contain precompaction solar wind and solar flare irradiation records. A quantitative understanding of these records is important because it would allow constraints to be placed on the environment in which the irradiation occurred, and, therefore, on the mode of evolution of the CI and CM chondrites. The present investigation is concerned primarily with fossil track evidence, taking into account selected specimens of several CI and CM chondrites. In addition, the results are presented of extensive studies of the angular distributions of tracks in irradiated grains from four CM chondrites. The results provide information on the exposure geometry of the grains.