Experimental Petrology of the Basaltic Shergottite Yamato 980459: Implications for the Thermal Structure of the Martian Mantle

Yamato 980459 (Y98) is an olivine-phyric basaltic shergottite composed of 48% pyroxene, 26% olivine, 25% mesostasis, and 1% other minerals. Unlike the other Martian basalts, it contains no plagioclase. Olivine in Y98 is the most magnesian of all Martian meteorites. Thus Y98 is believed to be the most primitive and its composition may be the closest to a primary or direct melt of the Martian mantle. As such, it provides a very useful probe of the mineralogy and depth of its mantle source region. Toward this end, we are conducting crystallization experiments on a synthetic Y98 composition at Martian mantle pressures and temperatures.