The Putinga, Rio Grande do Sul, chondrite (fall, August 16, 1937), consists of major olivine (Fa24.8), orthopyroxene (Fs21.3), and metallic nickel‐iron (kamacite, taenite, and plessite); minor maskelynite (Ab81.0An12.4Or6.6) and troilite; and accessory chromite (Cm79.0Uv8.2Pc1.8Sp11.0) and whitlockite. Mineral compositions, particularly of olivine and orthorhombic pyroxene, as well as the bulk chemical composition, particularly the ratios of Fe°/Ni° (5.24), Fetotal/SiO2 (0.58), and Fe°/Fetotal (0.27), and the contents of Fetotal (22.42%) and total metallic nickel‐iron (7.25%) classify the meteorite as an L‐group chondrite. The highly recrystallized texture of the stone, with well‐indurated, poorly discernible chondrules; xenomorphic, well‐crystallized groundmass olivine and pyroxene; and the occurrence of poikilitic intergrowth of olivine in orthopyroxene suggest that Putinga belongs to petrologic type 6. Maskelynite of oligoclase composition was formed by solid state shock transformation of previously existing well‐crystallized plagioclase at estimated shock pressures of about 250–350 kbar. Thus, recrystallization (i.e., formation of well‐crystallized oligoclase) must have preceded shock transformation into maskelynite.
A barred chondrule in the Ngawi meteorite contains a magnetite spherule embedded in it. The collision between these two objects fractured and partially remelted the chondrule, an indication that the impact velocity was 10(5) to 10(6) centimeters per second. This observation supports Cameron's and Whipple's recent predictions that grains achieved high velocities in the nebula and that the resulting impacts provide a suitable chondrule-forming mechanism.
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