[meteorite-list] A question about an iron fleck in NWA 2977 Lunar

Wed Aug 13 14:39:43 EDT 2008

Dear Zelimir:

Schreibersite (an iron-nickel phosphide) occurs 
in iron meteorites and it also occurs in some 
lunar impact-melt breccias, particularly those 
from Apollo 16.  There is evidence that a subset 
of the Apollo 16 impact-melt breccias was formed 
by impact of an iron meteorite (the breccias 
contain 0.5-2.0% metal, which is quite a lot), so 
it is no surprise that the breccias contain 
schreibersite associated with metal blebs.

I should emphasize that the metal was melted and 
part of the mainly-silicate impact melt.  The 
metal resolidified as tiny blebs as the melt 
cooled.  So, the breccias do not actually contain 
"fragments" of iron meteorite.  The silicate melt 
was moderately rich in phosphorous, so it's been 
argued that most of the P in lunar schreibersite 
is from the Moon whereas the Fe and Ni are from 
the impactor.  Schreibersite can only form under 
reducing conditions, like on the Moon.

NWA 5000 is the only lunar meteorite of which I'm 
aware for which schreibersite has been reported 
(A. Irving and S. Kuehner, in MetBull writeup):

http://tin.er.usgs.gov/meteor/metbull.php?sea=nwa+5000&sfor=names&ants=&falls=&stype=contains&lrec=50&map=ge&browse=&country=All&srt=name&categ=All&mblist=All&phot=&snew=0&pnt=no&code=45986

That's no surprise because NWA 5000 is loaded 
with FeNi metal of meteoritic origin (that is, 
ASTEROIDAL meteoritic origin).  Another lunar 
meteorite where I might expect schreibersite is 
NWA 4936 because that meteorite is a (and the 
only) compositional match to Apollo 16 soil, 
including high concentrations of siderophile 
(metal-loving) elements like Ni, Ir, and Au.  I 
suspect the meteorite comes from near the Apollo 
16 site and, therefore, likely contains a small 
component of the same iron meteorite that is 
found in Apollo 16 rocks and soil.

The NWA 773 clan of meteorites is one of the last 
places I'd expect schreibersite because the 
breccia portions that we've analyzed are low in 
Ir and, we infer, low in metal.   But, FeNi metal 
has been observed in NWA 773, so I can imagine 
that if one looks hard enough, there may be some schreibersite.

As it turns out, I was unaware of NWA 3186 until 
your message.  I checked with Ted Bunch, who 
classified the stone and submitted the writeup to 
the Nomenclature Committee (not A. Greshake).  I 
just added the stone to my lunar meteorite list, 
along with a great photo taken by Stefan Ralew 
and Martin Altmann (I hope they don't mind!).

http://meteorites.wustl.edu/lunar/stones/nwa0773.htm

I don't know whether schreibersite in lunar 
meteorites differs in composition from schreibersite in OC's.

Randy Korotev

At 16:26 12-08-08 Tuesday, you wrote:
>Dear Randy & list,
>
>Randy, I fully appreciated your very explicit statement regarding
>metallic phases in lunars.
>This is actually important and fundamental regarding the orgin of
>metal or the history of lunar meteorites (and other) and I am
>surprised of the lack of reactions.
>
>I have here a comment and a couple of questions
>
>Comment:
>
>I recently got (from the team Altmann/Ralew - Chladni'd Heirs) 2 small
>pieces of NWA 3186, still not officially approved by the NomCom but
>said to be a lunar olivine gabbro (classified by Greshake in Berlin)
>and suspected (at least by me but also by others) to be probably
>paired with NWA 773, 2727, 3333 and possibly the others ofthe series.
>The texture (from the sections cut and polished on my 0.753 g and
>1.132 g fragments) fully resembles the pics shown on your link.
>
>Well I carefully examined these sections under a simple 40x
>magnification (binocular with light oriented so as to have metallic
>reflexions favored). On the largest section (1.132 g piece) I clearly
>detected an about 0.3 mm Schreibersite area, possibly along with a
>couple of 10 times smaller such spots).
>This schreibersite (identified visually, thus through its special
>color/shade, by comparison with the same mineral observed on many
>other meteorite sections) is observed on the black breccia surface
>portion (about 60%, the other 40% being almost pure olivine as in the
>paired NWA's).
>I neither observed more schreibersite on the other piece, nor on my
>0.277 g NWA 2977 slice (pure "olivine"-like texture), nor on any other
>of my other 14 lunar samples.
>
>On examining all my lunar samples, just DAG 400 (lunar anorthosic
>breccia) clearly showed about 30-35 very tiny metallic spots
>(contamination totally excluded), that have the usual typical shade of
>the Fe,Ni metallic spots in most meteorites (steel-gray).
>
>2 small questions:
>
>- Did you ever observe screibersite domains on lunar meteorites (won't
>be a surprise if schreibersite originates from the impactor) and, if
>so, would the (Fe,NI,Co) phosphide be also be richer in Ni than, say,
>schreibersite found on other oc's ?
>
>- Speculating that you for sure well know that NWA 3186, could you
>confirm it is also be paired with the others mentioned above ?
>
>Thanks much for any comment or answer.
>
>Best wishes to all,
>
>Zelimir
>
>
>Randy Korotev <korotev at wustl.edu> a Ã©critÂ :
>
>>Dear Tom:
>>
>>All brecciated lunar meteorites contain some FeNi metal (<<1%), but you
>>may have to look hard in some.  (In others, like NWA 5000, you don't
>>have to look hard at all.)  The metal derives from impacts of
>>asteroidal meteorites with the Moon.  If the meteorite is an
>>impact-melt breccia, the metal probably melted and resolidified on the
>>Moon.  Regolith breccias, on the other hand, may contain FeNi metal
>>that hasn't been highly reprocessed.
>>
>>http://meteorites.wustl.edu/lunar/stones/nwa0773.htm
>>
>>NWA 2977, however, isn't a breccia.  It's an igneous rock (a cumulate
>>olivine gabbro), if your sample is like mine.  Lunar igneous rocks
>>contain very small amounts of metal, but the metal is indigenous to the
>>Moon and doesn't have the composition of meteoritic metal.  I see that
>>one report on NWA 733 (almost-for-sure a pair to NWA 2977) did mention
>>"grains of Fe,Ni metal also occur in residual pockets but are rare."
>>Another says "Metal grains occur in very small masses with troilite and
>>are Ni-rich (55.5 wt.% Ni, 40.9% Fe, 1.5% Co, 0.03% P)."  That
>>composition isn't meteoritic (in meteorites, the Ni/Co ratio is nearly
>>always in the 10-24 range).
>>
>>When you say "The thin [section] is polished to 1/4 micron," do you
>>mean the section is only 1/4 micron thick (amazing!) or the final
>>polish was done with 1/4 micron abrasive?  In a standard thin section
>>(30-35 microns), metal is totally opaque, so I don't see how it shows
>>up in polarized light (?)  How does it look in reflected light?
>>
>>Sincerely,
>>Randy Korotev
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>At 17:41 09-08-08, you wrote:
>>>Hi list,  I had a question about an iron  fleck I found in a thin section of
>>>NWA 2977 Lunar.  Jim Strope sent it to  me.
>>>
>>>I plan to use this as next months Meteorite Times Micro Vision and  want to
>>>be accurate.
>>>
>>>The thin is polished to 1/4 micron.  This  sometimes has the same effect as
>>>etching but on a much finer scale.  I have  observed it in other
>>>materials that
>>>get this kind of polish.
>>>
>>>There is a  fleck of iron in this material.  In this fleck is what
>>>looks like
>>>micro  Widmanstatten pattern.
>>>
>>>Can this pattern be called  Widmanstatten?  If not, are the creation
>>>processes the same as with full  sized Widmanstatten?  How would it
>>>  be still present
>>>in a lunar?  Could  the pattern survive a meteor collision with the moon and
>>>not be heated to the  point of destruction?
>>>
>>>I would like to email micrographs to any one who is  interested or, even
>>>better, might have the answers.
>>>
>>>The images are taken  in incident cross polarized light and I am using a
>>>Glan/Thompson style polarizer  that allows me near total
>>>extinction.  I pull up
>>>the changes in the pattern  by slight rotation of the polarizer.  The
>>>magnification of these images is  1600X.
>>>
>>>Thanks,  Tom Phillips
>>
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