Chondrules and the Origin of Meteorites
"The whole is simpler than the sum of its parts." - W. Gibbs
Building blocks of planetary bodies ...
Chondrules
Small spherical grains varying from microscopic size to the size of a pea, usually composed of iron, aluminum, or magnesium silicates. They occur in abundance in primitive stony meteorites.
Chondrules in the chondrite Grassland. A millimeter scale is shown.
Most meteorites that fall on Earth are chondrites, which are characterized by the presence of round grains called chondrules (from Greek chondros, grain).
If chondrules were a relatively rare meteoritic curiosity, one could legitimately consider them an interesting detail to be explained someday but not a matter of central importance.
"Lead isotopic ages of chondrules and calcium-aluminum-rich inclusions.". Science (New York, N.Y.) 297 (5587): 1678-83. doi:10.1126/science.1073950. PMID 12215641.
^ Baker, J.; Bizzarro, M.; Wittig, N.; Connelly, J.; Haack, H. (2005-08-25).
Specimens of the meteorite were found to contain a fine-grained carbon-rich matrix studded with many chondrules, both matrix and chondrules consisting predominantly of the mineral olivine.
Why are chondrules especially important for solar system formation models? What type of meteorite are they likely to be found in?
How old are the various types of meteorites and why are they used to find the age of the solar system?
Chondrite: An abundant class of stony meteorites with chemical compositions similar to that of the Sun and characterized by the presence of chondrules (see definition below).
Iridium is rare on Earth except near the Earth's center, but relatively abundant in chondritic meteors (stony meteors with chondrules, spherical blobs of silicates which pre-date planetary formation).
Table of Contents: meteorite Article Recovery of meteorites Types of meteorites Stony meteorites Chondrites Chondrules Refractory inclusions Matrix Alteration processes Classification systems CI carbonaceous chondrites Achondrites Iron meteorites ...
Chondrules show evidence that they were formed at about the same time as the planets - it has been suggested that they formed in the Solar nebula by impact between high-velocity grains.
Unlike achondrites, chondrites contain chondrules, which are spheres or spheroids of olivine and other minerals embedded in a matrix or groundmass; ...
On this rock, recovered in 1988 and called Alan Hills 84001 (ALH84001 for short), the scientists found small, worm-shaped structures called chondrules, which form when the rock is subjected to climactic stresses.
achondrite: Stony meteorite containing no chondrules or volatiles.
Chondrite - A meteorite containing chondrules
Chondrule - A small, spherical body embedded in a meteorite. Chondrules are composed of iron, aluminum, and magnesium silicate rock ...
CHONDRITIC METEOR
Chondritic meteors are stony meteors with chondrules, tiny glass spheres. These meteors are unchanged since their formation, shortly after the formation of the sun. These meteors consist of elements also common in the Earth's core.
Primitive meteorites, in particular carbonaceous chondrites, contain millimetre to centimetre-sized calcium-aluminum-rich inclusions (CAIs) and chondrules, molten or partially molten droplets that become bound up in the asteroid.
Chondrite
a meteorite containing chondrules and other components produced in the solar nebula.
Chondrule
small, glassy spheres commonly found in meteorites.
a stony meteorite containing small, round, silicate granules called chondrules
chromosphere
a layer in a star's atmosphere lying below the corona and above the photosphere ...
About 86% of the meteorites that fall on Earth are chondrites, which are named for the small, round particles they contain. These particles, or chondrules, ...
show a diversity of mineral elements including large percentages of silicon and magnesium oxides; the most abundant type of aerolite is the chondrite, so called because the metal embedded in it is in the form of grainlike lumps, or chondrules.
We can picture an IDP as a "matrix" of material with embedded elements which were formed at different times and places in the solar nebula and before our solar nebula's formation. Examples of embedded elements in cosmic dust are GEMS, chondrules, ...
 See also: Chondrule, Meteorite, Meteor, Earth, Asteroids
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