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Olivine in Martian Meteorite Allan Hills 84001: Evidence for a High-Temperature Origin and Implications for Signs of LifeOlivine from Martian meteorite Allan Hills (ALH) 84001 occurs as clusters within orthopyroxene adjacent to fractures containing disrupted carbonate globules and feldspathic shock glass. The inclusions are irregular in shape and range in size from approx. 40 microns to submicrometer. Some of the inclusions are elongate and boudinage-like. The olivine grains are in sharp contact with the enclosing orthopyroxene and often contain small inclusions of chromite The olivine exhibits a very limited range of composition from Fo(sub 65) to Fo(sub 66) (n = 25). The delta(sup 18)O values of the olivine and orthopyroxene analyzed by ion microprobe range from +4.3 to +5.3% and are indistinguishable from each other within analytical uncertainty. The mineral chemistries, O-isotopic data, and textural relationships indicate that the olivine inclusions were produced at a temperature greater than 800 C. It is unlikely that the olivines formed during the same event that gave rise to the carbonates in ALH 84001, which have more elevated and variable delta(sup 18)O values, and were probably formed from fluids that were not in isotopic equilibrium with the orthopyroxene or olivine The reactions most likely instrumental in the formation of olivine could be either the dehydration of hydrous silicates that formed during carbonate precipitation or the reduction of orthopyroxene and spinel If the olivine was formed by either reaction during a postcarbonate beating event, the implications are profound with regards to the interpretations of McKay et al. Due to the low diffusion rates in carbonates, this rapid, high-temperature event would have resulted in the preservation of the fine-scale carbonate zoning' while partially devolatilizing select carbonate compositions on a submicrometer scale. This may have resulted in the formation of the minute magnetite grains that McKay et al attributed to biogenic activity.
Document ID
20010035473
Acquisition Source
Goddard Space Flight Center
Document Type
Reprint (Version printed in journal)
Authors
Shearer, C. K.
(New Mexico Univ. Albuquerque, NM United States)
Leshin, L. A.
(Arizona Univ. Tucson, AZ United States)
Adcock, C. T.
(New Mexico Univ. Albuquerque, NM United States)
Date Acquired
August 20, 2013
Publication Date
January 1, 1999
Publication Information
Publication: Meteoritics and Planetary Science
Publisher: Meteoritical Society
Volume: 34
Subject Category
Lunar And Planetary Science And Exploration
Funding Number(s)
CONTRACT_GRANT: NAG5-6105
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Other

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