Mathematics – Logic
Scientific paper
Nov 1996
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=1996icar..124...97y&link_type=abstract
Icarus, Volume 124, Issue 1, pp. 97-112.
Mathematics
Logic
50
Scientific paper
We conducted a petrologic study of 18 equilibrated eucrites with the goal of understanding the formation and evolution of the crust of asteroid 4 Vesta, the likely source of eucrite meteorites. Their textures indicate that eucrites were basaltic igneous rocks but modified by postcrystallization brecciation, recrystallization, and impact melting. Recrystallized rocks are the most common among clasts in the eucrites; impact melt breccias are rare. Equilibration temperatures of the metamorphic clasts range from 700 to 1000 degC, with most in the 800-900 degC range. Complex exsolution and recrystallization textures in pyroxenes suggest that eucrites cooled very slowly from high peak temperatures after reheating. This extended period of thermal metamorphism requires a high interior temperature in a Vesta-sized body; this metamorphism could have taken place during and shortly after crust formation. We suggest the crust of Vesta evolved through the eruption, rapid cooling, and subsequent burial and reheating of lava flows. As the crust grew in thickness, the depth of burial increased, causing temperatures to rise and leading to global metamorphism. This resulted in only a small percentage of unequilibrated eucrites (only the last few percent of basalts erupted would not be metamorphosed), and a wide range of metamorphic temperatures and durations for the equilibrated eucrites.
Jeffrey Taylor G.
Keil Klaus
Yamaguchi Akira
No associations
LandOfFree
Global Crustal Metamorphism of the Eucrite Parent Body does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this scientific paper.
If you have personal experience with Global Crustal Metamorphism of the Eucrite Parent Body, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Global Crustal Metamorphism of the Eucrite Parent Body will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFWR-SCP-O-1149119