Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Achondrite

  • Living reference work entry
  • First Online:
Encyclopedia of Astrobiology

  • 213 Accesses

Definition

Achondrites are differentiated stony meteorites and constitute a minority among the stony meteorites. The term literally means “without chondrules” and therefore underlines the main difference with chondrites. Achondrites are igneous rocks or breccias of igneous rock fragments and thus their parent body has experienced partial melting and recrystallization. The class of achondrites includes the primitive achondrites (e.g., ureilites) and achondrites in general (e.g., aubrites, eucrites, howardites, diogenites, Martian meteorites, and lunar meteorites).

See Also

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution

Institutional subscriptions

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt (DLR), Institute of Planetary Research, Rutherfordstrasse 2, 12489, Berlin, Germany

    Frank Sohl & Tilman Spohn

Authors
  1. Frank Sohl
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Tilman Spohn
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Frank Sohl .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Centro de Biología Molecular, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Madrid, Spain

    Ricardo Amils

  2. Labo. d'Astrophysique de Bordeaux (LAB), Observatoire Aquitain des Sciences de l'Univers (OASU), Floirac CX, France

    Muriel Gargaud

  3. Centro de Astrobiología (CAB), Inst. Nacional de Técnica Aeroespacial, Torrejón de Ardoz, Madrid, Spain

    José Cernicharo Quintanilla

  4. Geophysical Lab., Carnegie Institution of Washington, Washington, District of Columbia, USA

    Henderson James Cleaves

  5. Astronomy Department, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, Massachusetts, USA

    William M. Irvine

  6. Dépt. Sc. de la Terre et de l’Atmosphère, Université du Québec, Montréal, Montreal, Québec, Canada

    Daniele Pinti

  7. Centre National d'Etudes Spatiale (CNES) DPI/E2U, Paris CX, France

    Michel Viso

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2014 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

About this entry

Cite this entry

Sohl, F., Spohn, T. (2014). Achondrite. In: Amils, R., et al. Encyclopedia of Astrobiology. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-27833-4_19-3

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-27833-4_19-3

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-642-27833-4

  • eBook Packages: Springer Reference Physics and AstronomyReference Module Physical and Materials ScienceReference Module Chemistry, Materials and Physics

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation