Diaplectic labradorite glass from the manicouagan impact crater

Abstract

Physical properties and the crystallization behavior of natural diaplectic labradorite glass of the shocked anorthosite from the Manicouagan impact crater have been studied. Glasses prepared by laboratory fusion of this anorthosite and a synthetic An₅₅ plagioclase composition were used for comparison. The close similarities in the mid-and far-infrared spectra of the diaplectic and fused glasses indicate a comparable degree of short-range order and lack of long-range order in their structures. They also show an identical viscosity-temperature relation, reflecting a similar and probably high degree of coherence of the (Si,Al)O₄ tetrahedra in the network. However, striking differences exist in the crystallization characteristics. Diffusion-controlled crystallization takes place in the fused glass between about 900 and 1,400° C and proceeds generally by the advance of dendritic crystal layers from the surface into the interior of the samples. By contrast, diffusion plays a minor, if any, role in the crystallization of the diaplectic glass, which, on annealing between 800 and 1,000° C reverts to the original plagioclase structure and the primary mineral grains are restored.

From the present experimental results it is suggested that high shock-induced temperatures cause onset of the melting process in the compressed crystalline labradorite. However, due to the extremely short duration of the transient high-temperature excursions, the crystal-melt transition does not come to completion. Instead, a disordered transitional state of the compressed material is frozen-in which is recovered after pressure release as diaplectic glass. Its structure thus represents a frozen-in disordered state intermediate between the structures of the crystalline labradorite and its melt. It appears that the diaplectic glass structure is rather inhomogeneous, thereby reflecting the heterogeneous deformational and thermal conditions associated with shock compression.