Chassigny (meteorite) on:
[Wikipedia]
[Google]
[Amazon]
Chassigny is a 
Chassigny is particularly important because, unlike most SNCs, its Mars Meteorite Compendium: Chassigny
Compiled by Charles Meyer.
Martian meteorite
A Martian meteorite is a rock that formed on Mars, was ejected from the planet by an impact event, and traversed interplanetary space before landing on Earth as a meteorite. , 277 meteorites had been classified as Martian, less than half a percen ...
which fell on October 3, 1815, at approximately 8:00 am, in Chassigny, north-eastern France.Pistollet (1816) The circumstances of the Chassigny meteorite shower. Ann. Chim. Phys. (Paris) v. 1, pg 45-48. Chassigny is the meteorite for which the chassignites are named, and gives rise to the "C" in the name of the SNC group of meteorites. Chassigny is an olivine cumulate rock
Cumulate rocks are igneous rocks formed by the accumulation of crystals from a magma either by settling or floating. Cumulate rocks are named according to their texture; cumulate texture is diagnostic of the conditions of formation of this group o ...
(dunite
Dunite (), also known as olivinite (not to be confused with the mineral olivenite), is an intrusive igneous rock of ultramafic composition and with phaneritic (coarse-grained) texture. The mineral assemblage is greater than 90% olivine, with mi ...
). It consists almost entirely of olivine
The mineral olivine () is a magnesium iron silicate with the chemical formula . It is a type of nesosilicate or orthosilicate. The primary component of the Earth's upper mantle, it is a common mineral in Earth's subsurface, but weathers quickl ...
with intercumulus pyroxene
The pyroxenes (commonly abbreviated to ''Px'') are a group of important rock-forming inosilicate minerals found in many igneous and metamorphic rocks. Pyroxenes have the general formula , where X represents calcium (Ca), sodium (Na), iron (Fe II) ...
, feldspar
Feldspars are a group of rock-forming aluminium tectosilicate minerals, also containing other cations such as sodium, calcium, potassium, or barium. The most common members of the feldspar group are the ''plagioclase'' (sodium-calcium) feldsp ...
, and oxides. It was the only known chassignite until NWA2737 was found in the Moroccan Sahara in northwest Africa.
Chassigny is particularly important because, unlike most SNCs, its noble gas
The noble gases (historically also the inert gases; sometimes referred to as aerogens) make up a class of chemical elements with similar properties; under standard conditions, they are all odorless, colorless, monatomic gases with very low chemi ...
composition differs from that in the current Martian atmosphere
The atmosphere of Mars is the layer of gases surrounding Mars. It is primarily composed of carbon dioxide (95%), molecular nitrogen (2.8%), and argon (2%). It also contains trace levels of water vapor, oxygen, carbon monoxide, hydrogen, and no ...
. These differences are presumably due to its cumulate (mantle-derived) nature.Compiled by Charles Meyer.
See also
*Glossary of meteoritics
This is a glossary of terms used in meteoritics, the science of meteorites.
#
* 2 Pallas – an asteroid from the asteroid belt and one of the likely parent bodies of the CR meteorites.
* 4 Vesta – second-largest asteroid in the asteroid b ...
* Meteorite falls
A meteorite fall, also called an observed fall, is a meteorite collected after its fall from outer space was observed by people or automated devices. Any other meteorite is called a "find". There are more than 1,100 documented falls listed in w ...
References
{{Portal bar, Solar System Martian meteorites 1815 in France Haute-Marne 1815 in science Meteorites found in France October 1815 events