1. Do Mesosiderites Reside on 4 VESTA? an Assessment Based on Dawn Grand Data
- Author
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Mittlefehldt, D. W, Prettyman, T. H, Reedy, R. C, Beck, A. W, Blewett, D. T, Gaffey, M. J, Lawrence, D. J, McCoy, T. J, McSween, H. Y., Jr, and Toplis, J. J
- Subjects
Geophysics - Abstract
Almost a century ago, simple petrographic observations were used to suggest a close genetic link between eucrites and the silicates in mesosiderites [1]. Mesosiderites are composed of roughly equal proportions of silicates that are very similar in mineralogy and texture to howardites, and Fe, Ni metal (Fig. 1) [2]. This similarity has led some to conclude that mesosiderites come from the howardite, eucrite and diogenite (HED) parent asteroid [3, 4]. Subsequent petrologic study demonstrated a number of differences between mesosiderite silicates and HEDs that are more plausibly explained as requiring separate parent asteroids [5]. However, HEDs and mesosiderites are identical in oxygen isotopic composition, and this has been used to argue for a common parent 4 Vesta [6].
- Published
- 2012