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Wehrlite

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Wehrlite
Igneous rock
Photomicrograph of a thin section of wehrlite, in cross-polarised light.
Composition
ClassificationUltramafic
Primaryolivine and clinopyroxene
Secondaryorthopyroxene, hornblende, spinel, garnet, anorthite
TexturePhaneritic

Wehrlite is an ultramafic and ultrabasic rock that is a mixture of olivine and clinopyroxene. It is a subdivision of the peridotites.

Wehrlite is a mixture of olivine and clinopyroxene.

The nomenclature allows up to a few percent of orthopyroxene. Accessory minerals include ilmenite, chromite, magnetite and an aluminium-bearing mineral (plagioclase, spinel or garnet).[1]

Wehrlites occur as mantle xenoliths and in ophiolites. Another occurrence is as cumulate in gabbro and norite layered intrusions.[1] Some meteorites can also be classified as wehrlites (e.g. NWA 4797).[2]

Wehrlite is named after Alois Wehrle.[3] He was born 1791 in Kroměříž, Czech Republic (then Kremsier in Mähren) and was a professor at the "Ungarische Bergakademie" (Hungarian Mining School) in Banská Štiavnica, Slovakia (then Schemnitz, Kingdom of Hungary).[4]

Brachinites

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Brachinites are a class of wherlitic primitive anachondrites that consist almost entirely of olivine, which ranges from 74 to 98% by volume. These often have accessory minerals such as plagioclase (6.7 to 12.9%), iron Sulfides (1.8 to 4.0%), clinopyroxene (1.5 to 8.2%) and orthopyroxene (0 to 2.4%) with traces of phosphates and meteoritic iron. The only deviation from regular chondrites is their high olivine to orthopyroxene ratio.[5]

References

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  1. 1 2 "Glossary: Wehrlite". Imperial College. Retrieved 12 January 2013.[permanent dead link]
  2. "NWA 4797" (PDF). curator.jsc.nasa.gov. Retrieved 12 January 2013.
  3. "Department of Mineralogy and Petrography". uni-miskolc.hu. Archived from the original on 13 April 2014. Retrieved 12 January 2013.
  4. "ADB:Wehrle, Alois". WikiSource. Retrieved 12 January 2013.
  5. Nehru, C. E.; M. Prinz; M. K. Weisberg; M. Ebihara; R. N. Clayton; T. K. Mayeda (1992). "Brachinites: A New Primitive Achondrite Group". Meteoritics. 27 (3): 267.