The Tissint Martian meteorite as evidence for the largest impact excavation

Ioannis P. Baziotis, Yang Liu, Paul S. DeCarli, H. Jay Melosh, Harry Y. McSween, Robert J. Bodnar and Lawrence A. Taylor ()
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Ioannis P. Baziotis: Planetary Geosciences Institute, University of Tennessee
Yang Liu: Planetary Geosciences Institute, University of Tennessee
Paul S. DeCarli: Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences, Purdue University
H. Jay Melosh: Virginia Tech
Harry Y. McSween: Planetary Geosciences Institute, University of Tennessee
Robert J. Bodnar: Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology
Lawrence A. Taylor: Planetary Geosciences Institute, University of Tennessee

Nature Communications, 2013, vol. 4, issue 1, 1-7

Abstract: Abstract High-pressure minerals in meteorites provide clues for the impact processes that excavated, launched and delivered these samples to Earth. Most Martian meteorites are suggested to have been excavated from 3 to 7 km diameter impact craters. Here we show that the Tissint meteorite, a 2011 meteorite fall, contains virtually all the high-pressure phases (seven minerals and two mineral glasses) that have been reported in isolated occurrences in other Martian meteorites. Particularly, one ringwoodite (75 × 140 μm2) represents the largest grain observed in all Martian samples. Collectively, the ubiquitous high-pressure minerals of unusually large sizes in Tissint indicate that shock metamorphism was widely dispersed in this sample (~25 GPa and ~2,000 °C). Using the size and growth kinetics of the ringwoodite grains, we infer an initial impact crater with ~90 km diameter, with a factor of 2 uncertainty. These energetic conditions imply alteration of any possible low-T minerals in Tissint.

Date: 2013
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DOI: 10.1038/ncomms2414

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