LIGHT LITHOPHILE ELEMENTS IN PYROXENES OF NORTHWEST AFRICA (NWA) 817 AND OTHER MARTIAN METEORITES: IMPLICATIONS FOR WATER IN MARTIAN MAGMAS

Abstract

Zoning patterns of light lithophile elements (the LLE: Li, Be, and B) in pyroxenes of some Martian basaltic meteorites have been used to suggest that the parent basalts were saturated in water and exsolved an aqueous fluid phase. Here, we examine LLE zoning in the augites of a quickly cooled Martian basalt that was not water-saturated-the Northwest Africa (NWA) 817 nakhlite. Analyses for LLE were by secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS), supported by EMP analyses of major and minor elements. In NWA 817, zoning of Be and B is consistent with igneous fractionations while Li abundances are effectively constant across wide ranges in abundance of other incompatible elements (Be, B, Ti, and Fe*). The lack of strong zoning in Li can be ascribed to intracrystalline diffusion, despite the rapid cooling of NWA 817. Most other nakhlites, notably Nakhla and Lafayette, cooled more slowly than did NWA 817 [Treiman, A.H., 2005. The nakhlite Martian meteorites: augite-rich igneous rock from Mars. Chem. Erde 65, 203-270]. In them Li abundances are constant across augite, as are abundances of other elements. In Nakhla pyroxenes, all the LLE have effectively constant abundances across significant ranges in Fe* and Ti abundance. Lafayette is more equilibrated still, and shows constant abundances of LLE and nearly constant Fe*. A pyroxene in the NWA480 shergottite has constant Li abundances, and was interpreted to represent mineral fractionation coupled with exsolution of aqueous fluid. A simple quantitative model of this process requires that the partitioning of Li between basalt and aqueous fluid, LiDaq/bas, be 15 times larger than its experimentally determined value. Thus, its seems unlikely that the Li zoning pattern in NWA480 augite represents exsolution of aqueous fluid. Late igneous or sub-solidus diffusion seems more likely as is suggested by Li isotopic studies [Beck, P., Chaussidon, M., Barrat, J.-A., Gillet, Ph., Bohn, M., 2005. An ion-microprobe study of lithium isotopes behavior in nakhlites. Meteorit. Planet. Sci. 40, Abstract #5118; Beck, P., Chaussidon, M., Barrat, J.-A., Gillet, Ph., Bohn, M., 2006. Diffusion induced Li isotopic fractionation during the cooling of magmatic rocks: the case of pyroxene phenocrysts from nakhlite meteorites. Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta 70, in press]. Pyroxenes of the Shergotty and Zagami meteorites have nearly constant abundances of B, and Li that decreases core-to-rim. Applying the quantitative model to the constant B in these pyroxenes requires that BDaq/bas be 25 times larger than experimentally constrained values. Li abundances in pigeonite can be fit by the model of crystal fractionation and fluid loss, but only if LiDaq/bas is 30 times the experimentally constrained value. The Li abundance pattern in augite cannot be modeled by simple fractionation, suggesting some strong crystal-composition effects. Thus, Li and B distributions in Shergotty and Zagami pyroxenes cannot be explained by igneous fractionation and exsolution of aqueous vapor. Intracrystalline diffusion, complete for B and incomplete for Li, seems more consistent with the observed zoning patterns. ? 2006 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.