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NWA 1240 is an unusual eucrite recently recovered in Morocco as a single stone of 98 g. It is an unbrecciated greenish-brown rock nearly devoid of fusion crust. It displays porphyritic texture consisting of skeletal hollow low-Ca pyroxene phenocrysts set in a variolitic (fan-spherulitic) mesostasis of fine elongate pyroxene and plagioclase crystals. Minor phases are skeletal chromite, iron, silica, troilite, ilmenite and minute amounts of phosphate and fayalite. Pyroxenes are unequilibrated and show one of the widest ranges of composition so far described for a eucrite, from En(76.0)Wo(1.9)FS(22.1) to compositions nearly devoid of Mg (unusual ferrosilite and Fe-augite symplectites and possibly pyroxferroite). Plagioclase crystals contain significant amounts of Fe and Mg, which are possibly controlled by the Ca(Mg,Fe2+)Si3O8 plagioclase component.

We have measured the diffusion coefficient of 44Ca along and perpendicular to c direction in natural Fe-bearing (∼2 at.%) diopside single crystals. Specimens were annealed at temperatures ranging from 1000 to 1250°C, with controlled oxygen fugacity. Diffusion profiles were analysed by Rutherford Back-Scattering Spectrometry (RBS) of α-particles. The diffusion of Ca is isotropic along c and b directions. In addition, the results clearly show two distinct diffusional regimes for the natural diopside, revealed by silica precipitates occurrence in the diopside matrix when T ≥ 1150°C. In this case the oxygen partial pressure pO2 does not influence the self-diffusion coefficient which is characterized by the activation energy E = 396 ± 38 kJ/mol. For T ≤ 1100°C the diffusional process has a lower activation energy (E = 264 ± 33 kJ/mol) and varies as (pO2)−0.14±0.01 in the investigated range (from 10−16 atm to 10−6 atm). These results are consistent with previously reported results on electrical conductivity (Huebner and Voigt, 1988) and high temperature plastic deformation of natural diopside single crystals (Jaoul and Raterron, 1994). According to the point defects model, elaborated by Jaoul and Raterron (1994), the diffusional mechanism of Ca should be essentially interstitial. Furthermore, this mechanism should be the same for different diopside samples with iron content ranging from 0.4 to 2.42 at.%. Indeed, for Ca diffusion in synthetic diopside (0.4 at.% Fe) the activation enthalpy is very similar (281 ± 26 kJ/mol, Dimanov and Ingrin, 1995). On the other hand, the Fe content indoubtly influences the preexponential factor. The present paper reports Ca self-diffusion in diopside as a function of T, pO2 crystallographic orientation, and Fe content. In fact, among all diffusion coefficients previously reported in diopside, but Si, DCa is the lowest. Thereby, Ca should be a kinetically limiting species for diffusion-controlled processes such as plastic deformation and cation exchanges. For instance, Ca self-diffusion controls CaMg exchanges between pyroxenes. Then, our results could be helpful to better understand the closure behaviour (Dodson, 1973, 1976) of the Clinopyroxene-Orthopyroxene geothermometer.