Magnetite in ALH 84001: An origin by shock-induced thermal decomposition of iron carbonate

Mathematics – Logic

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Scientific paper

In martian orthopyroxenite ALH 84001, pockets of feldspathic glass frequently contain carbonate masses that have been disrupted and dispersed within feldspathic shock melt as a result of impact(s). Transmission electron microscope studies of carbonate fragments embedded within feldspathic glass show that the fragments contain myriad, nanometer-sized magnetite particles with cuboid, irregular, and teardrop morphologies, frequently associated with voids. The fragments of carbonate must have been incorporated into the melt at temperatures of ~900 deg C, well above the upper thermal stability of siderite (FeCO3), which decomposes to produce magnetite and CO2 below ~450 deg C. These observations suggest that most, if not all, of the fine-grained magnetite associated with Fe-bearing carbonate in ALH 84001 could have been formed as result of the thermal decomposition of the siderite (FeCO3) component of the carbonate and is not due to biological activity.

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