[meteorite-list] Meteorites from Mercury

[bernd.pauli at paulinet.de]

"Peanut" wrote:

> What about Mercury ... ?

Gregory responded:

> There was widespread belief that the Enstatite Chondrites
> originated within Mercury's orbit, if they weren't actually
> Mercurian themselves ...

Martin A. contributed:

> The Enstatite Chondrite Neuschwanstein had its aphelion
> in the asteroid main belt, thus it's not related to Mercury.

Mark B. wrote:

> Not saying Enstatites are from Mercury, it seems
> to me that they formed much further from the sun ...


Hello All,

One major problem with a Mercurian origin of enstatite meteorites
is Mercury's mean density of about 5.4 g/cm^3. Enstatite chondrites,
on the other hand, have a density of about 3.4-3.7 g/cm^3.

Palme (2002) proposes that NWA 011 may be a fragment of Mercury!
Problem: The high FeO content of this meteorite would point toward a
parent body with a small metallic iron core and this is irreconcilable with
the large iron core believed to exist in Mercury.

References:

BURBINE T.H. et al. (2002) Spectra of extremely reduced assemblages:
Implications for Mercury (MAPS 37-9, 2002, pp. 1233-1244).

PALME H. (2002) A new solar system basalt (Science 296, 271-273).

CONSOLMAGNO G.J. et al. (1998) The density and porosity of
Meteorites from the Vatican collection (MAPS 33, 1231-1241).


Best regards,

Bernd