Published online by Cambridge University Press: 24 February 2026
Tiny presolar grains include C polymorphs, carbides, nitrides, oxides, silicates, metallic Fe-Ni, and organic compounds. Rare CAIs and AOAs contain refractory oxides and silicates. Major phases in type-3 OC include olivine and low-Ca pyroxene with variable FeO/(FeO+MgO), metallic Fe-Ni, troilite, and nearly exclusively within chondrules, crystallites of Ca-pyroxene, rare pigeonite, and tiny grains of merrillite. Whole-rock thermal metamorphism produced secondary phases: orthopyroxene, diopside, chromite, ilmenite, rutile, phosphate, and plagioclase. Diffusion facilitated by metamorphism causes increasing compositional homogeneity in olivine and pyroxene. Some minerals and mineraloids are formed at high shock pressure. These include lingunite and maskelynite from plagioclase; ahrensite, asimowite, poirierite, ringwoodite, and wadsleyite from olivine; akimotoite, bridgmanite, hemleyite, hiroseite, and majorite from orthopyroxene; chenmingite and xieite from chromite; tuite from merrillite; wangdaodeite from ilmenite; and TiO2-II from rutile. Parent-body aqueous alteration produced phyllosilicates, Ni-rich sulfides, Ni-rich metal phases, carbides, oxides, and small calcite crystals.
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