basaltic meteorites

A Dictionary of Earth Sciences | 1999 | 700+ words | Copyright

basaltic meteorites Achondrite meteorites that have been derived from parent bodies sufficiently evolved to have acquired a basaltic crust (in contrast, for example, to chondrites, which have derived from relatively primitive bodies). Eucrites and howardites (similar to eucrites, but more pyroxene-rich) probably formed through magmatic processes on the same parent body (possibly the Moon) around 4.5 billion years ago. The shergottyite—nakhlite—chassignite class of basaltic meteorite has a distinctly different oxygen-isotope composition (see OXYGEN-ISOTOPE RATIO), volatile content, and age (around 1.3 billion years), and originated from a separate parent body, probably the planet Mars.

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AILSA ALLABY and MICHAEL ALLABY. "basaltic meteorites." A Dictionary of Earth Sciences. 1999. Encyclopedia.com. 27 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

AILSA ALLABY and MICHAEL ALLABY. "basaltic meteorites." A Dictionary of Earth Sciences. 1999. Encyclopedia.com. (May 27, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O13-basalticmeteorites.html

AILSA ALLABY and MICHAEL ALLABY. "basaltic meteorites." A Dictionary of Earth Sciences. 1999. Retrieved May 27, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O13-basalticmeteorites.html

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