Amorphous Silicates in Primitive Meteoritic Materials: Acfer 094 and IDPs

Abstract

The abundance of presolar grains is one measure of the primitive nature of meteoritic materials. Presolar silicates are abundant in meteorites whose matrices are dominated by amorphous silicates such as the unique carbonaceous chondrite Acfer 094. Presolar silicates are even more abundant in chondritic-porous interplanetary dust particles (CP-IDPs). Amorphous silicates in the form of GEMS (glass with embedded metal and sulfides) grains are a major component of CP IDPs. We are studying amorphous silicates in Acfer 094 matrix in order to determine whether they are related to the GEMS grains in CPIDP