The Rewari meteorite

Summary

The meteorite was an oriented polyhedron, which broke up into at least two parts after entry into the Earth's atmosphere. It has undergone some degree of terrestrial weathering. A cut surface of the meteorite shows light-grey interior with sporadic rusty-brown patches and a distinct brown alteration zone close to the fusion crust. Weathering has resulted in preferential replacement of NiFe by limonite, and veining of minerals by goethite.

Rewari is an equilibrated chondrite with rare ghosts of chondrules and at least one lithic fragment. Composition of olivine, as indicated by microprobe analysis is Fa₂₃, which agrees well with bulk wet chemical analysis; that indicated by d₁₃₀ is Fa_18–20. From the outer surface inwards, four petrographic zones can be distinguished in the meteorite: a skin, about 0.01 mm thick, a troilite-poor zone slightly thicker than the skin, a troilite-rich ‘soaking zone’, about 0.5–0.6 mm thick, and a relatively coarse-grained interior. These are described in detail.

The interior of the meteorite is composed of relatively coarse-grained crystalline silicates with disseminated metallic minerals including plessitic and zoned inter-growths of kamacite and taenite. The matrix shows a high degree of integration with the chondrules. The coarse texture and zonation of taenite may be the result of protracted heat treatment responsible for recrystallization. The constituent grains show considerable shock effects such as fracturing, comminution, veins of shock-melted pseudotachylite, pressure twinning, and undulose extinction. Chemical composition (mean of two wet chemical analysis) of the meteorite is: metallic Fe 7.475, Ni 0.975, Co 0.045; as sulphide Fe 3.200, Ni 0.090, Co < 0.01; SiO₂ 38.060, TiO₂ 0.10, Al₂O₃ 2.34, Fe₂O₃ 0.175, Cr₂O₃ 0.485, FeO 13.950, MnO 0.210, NiO trace, CaO 1.875, MgO 26.265, Na₂O 0.89, K₂O 0.115, P₂O₅ 0.285, H₂O− 0.295, H₂O+ 0.81, CO₂ trace, S (total) 1.890, C (total) 0.19 per cent. The chemistry, mineralogy, and texture show that the Rewari meteorite is an L6 chondrite. Compared to average L-group chondrite it has a higher content of MgO and lower of SiO₂, a little lower oxidation state, and tends to be enriched in siderophilic elements.