A Tiny Piece of Basalt Probably from Asteroid 4 Vesta

• Published in: Acta geologica Sinica (Beijing) Vol. 78; no. 5; pp. 1025 - 1033
• Main Authors: Yangting, LIN, Daode, WANG, Guiqing, WANG
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford, UK Blackwell Publishing Ltd 01.10.2004
• Subjects: asteroid; basalt; eucrite; magmatism; meteorite; shock metamorphism; thermal history
• ISSN: 1000-9515; 1755-6724
• DOI: 10.1111/j.1755-6724.2004.tb00758.x

Grove Mountains (GRV) 99018 is a new eucrite (0.23 g), consisting mainly of pyroxene (50.5 vol%) and plagioclase (37.2 vol%) with minor silica minerals (7.0 vol%) and opaque minerals (5.2 vol%). It was intensely shocked, leading to partial melting, formation of abundant tiny inclusions in pyroxenes and plagioclase, and heavy brecciation. Exsolution of most pyroxenes (1–3 μm in width of the lamellae), recrystallization of the shock‐induced melt pockets and veins (5–20 μm in size), and homogeneous compositions of pyroxenes of various occurrences suggest the intense thermal metamorphism of GRV 99018 in the asteroidal body Vesta. This new eucrite will bring additional constraints on the chemical composition and multi‐stage thermal and shock history of Vesta.