Ordinary Chondrite Formation from two Components: Implied Connection to Planet Mercury

TL;DR

This paper proposes that ordinary chondrites are formed from two components: a primitive, oxidized component and a differentiated, planetary component linked to Mercury's missing elements, explaining their composition and oxidation states.

Contribution

It introduces a new model connecting ordinary chondrites to two components, including a planetary component associated with Mercury's missing elements, based on Fe-relative ratios.

Findings

Ordinary chondrites can be explained by two components: primitive and planetary.

The planetary component is linked to Mercury's missing elements.

The model accounts for chondrites' oxidation states and element deficiencies.

Abstract

Major element fractionation among chondrites has been discussed for decades as ratios relative to Si or Mg. Expressing ratios relative to Fe leads to a new relationship admitting the possibility that ordinary chondrite meteorites are derived from two components: one is a relatively undifferentiated, primitive component, oxidized like the CI or C1 chondrites; the other is a somewhat differentiated, planetary component, with oxidation state like the reduced enstatite chondrites. Such a picture would seem to explain for the ordinary chondrites, their major element compositions, their intermediate states of oxidation, and their ubiquitous deficiencies of refractory siderophile elements. I suggest that the planetary component of ordinary chondrite formation consists of planet Mercury's missing complement of elements.