Shock-Wave Experiment with the Chelyabinsk LL5 Meteorite: Experimental Parameters and the Texture of the Shock-Affected Material

Abstract

A spherical geometry shock experiment with the light-colored lithology material of the Chelyabinsk LL5 ordinary chondrite was carried out. The material was affected by shock and thermal metamorphism whose grade ranged from initial stage S3-4 to complete melting. The temperature and pressure were estimated at >2000°С and >90 GPa. The textural shock effects were studied by optical and electron microscopy. A single experimental impact has produced the whole the range of shock pressures and temperatures and, correspondingly, four zones identified by petrographic analysis: (1) a melt zone, (2) a zone of melting silicates, (3) a black ring zone, and (4) a zone of weakly shocked initial material. The following textural features of the material were identified: displacement of the metal and troilite phases from the central melt zone; the development of a zone of mixed lithology (light-colored fragments in silicate melt); the origin of a dark-colored lithology ring; and the generation of radiating shock veinlets. The experimental sample shows four textural zones that correspond to the different lithology types of the Chelyabinsk LL5 meteorite found in fragments of the meteoritic shower in the collection at the Ural Federal University. Our results prove that shock wave loading experiment can be successfully applied in modeling of space shocks and can be used to experimentally model processes at the small bodies of the solar system.