The Origin of Chondrules

UCLA Meteorite Gallery Lecture Series: December 2020
Title: The Origin of Chondrules
Lecturer: Dr. Alan Rubin, University of California, Los Angeles

Chondrules are submillimeter-size igneous spherules that formed after the crystallization of free-floating silicate-rich droplets in the solar nebula. Their immediate precursors were highly porous millimeter-to-centimeter-size dust aggregates that experienced flash melted, possibly by nebular lightning. Many chondrules appear to have been heated and partly melted more than once; this is indicated by the occurrence in many chondrules of relict grains, overgrowths on phenocrysts, secondary spherical shells (in enveloping compound chondrules), igneous rims, and microchondrule-bearing rims. In addition, P x-ray maps of FeO-rich chondrules reveal complicated thermal and mechanical histories that are otherwise hidden.

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