Screening and classification of ordinary chondrites by Raman spectroscopy

© 2015 The Meteoritical Society. Classification of ordinary chondrite meteorites generally implies (1) determining the chemical group by the composition in endmembers of olivine and pyroxene, and (2) identifying the petrologic group by microstructural features. The composition of olivine and pyroxene is commonly obtained by microprobe analyses or oil immersion of mineral separates. We propose Raman spectroscopy as an alternative technique to determine the endmember content of olivine and pyroxene in ordinary chondrites, by using the link between the wavelength shift of selected characteristic peaks in the spectra of olivine and pyroxene and the Mg/Fe ratio in these phases. The existing correlation curve has been recalculated from the Raman spectrum of reference minerals of known composition and further refined for the range of chondritic compositions. Although the technique is not as accurate as the microprobe for determining the composition of olivine and pyroxene, for most of the samples the chemical group can be easily determined by Raman spectroscopy. Blind tests with ordinary chondrites of different provenance, weathering, and shock stages have confirmed the potential of the method. Therefore, we suggest that a preliminary screening and the classification of most of the equilibrated ordinary chondrites can be carried out using an optical microscope equipped with a Raman spectrometer.

Publication year:2015