Experiment “Tsarev” and Differentiation of Chondritic Bodies

Abstract

As a check on the differentiation processes of planetesimals the experiment “Tsarev” was carried out. The main problems of the experiment were: investigation of melting and liquation processes in the melt of primitive meteorite substance; analysis of the composition of metallic and silicate phases, including the distribution of rare-earth elements and comparison of the obtained phase with iron and differentiated meteorite composition. The heating of a sample of the L-chondrite “Tsarev” (volume 15 cm³) was produced by intensive microwave radiation because this method of heating provides the possibility of uncontact entry of energy into a sufficiently large sample. Upon the heating of the meteorite “Tsarev” (with the maximum temperature 1500 ± 50°K) this sample was melted and two phases appeared and were separated in the gravity field: the composition of Fe-Ni-S phase includes 15 rare-earth elements and the silicate phase is composed of the main oxides. There is also clear evidence for the presence of liquation processes of second order, e.g. separation of Fe-Ni from Fe-S component.