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It is an achondrite meteorite from Mars. Orthopyroxenite is an ultramafic and ultrabasic rock that is almost exclusively made from the mineral orthopyroxene, the orthorhombic version of pyroxene and a type of pyroxenite. It can have up to a few percent of olivine and clinopyroxene .
orthopyroxene, any of a series of common silicate minerals in the pyroxene family. Orthopyroxenes typically occur as fibrous or lamellar (thin-plated) green masses in igneous and metamorphic rocks and in meteorites.
- The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica
Pyroxenite is an ultramafic igneous rock consisting essentially of minerals of the pyroxene group, such as augite, diopside, hypersthene, bronzite or enstatite. Pyroxenites are classified into clinopyroxenites, orthopyroxenites, and the websterites which contain both types of pyroxenes (see diagram below).
Orthopyroxene occurs mostly as small grains in the sample matrix and as inclusions and exsolution lamellae in clinopyroxene, but several large exsolved orthopyroxenes are observed in samples 119-17 and 119-19 (Figure 13.2B ). Only in sample 119-19 (garnet orthopyroxenite) is Opx a major constituent and coarse grained.
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282 Accesses. Download reference work entry PDF. The orthopyroxenes are an important series of rock-forming minerals. They are the orthorhombic members of the pyroxene group of silicates and consist essentially of a simple chemical series of (Mg,Fe)SiO 3 minerals, in contrast with the larger subgroup of monoclinic pyroxenes ( clinopyroxenes , q ...
Orthopyroxenes are a group of minerals ranging from pure MgSiO3 (enstatite) to pure FeSiO3 (ferrosilite). Bronzite and hypersthene are orthopyroxenes mid-way between these two end members. As the particular orthopyroxene mineral described is not always identified, all reported orthopyroxene occurrences are grouped together. Orthopyroxenes are relatively widespread as a primary mineral in ...
Download reference work entry PDF. A pyroxenite is an ultramafic plutonic rock consisting of ≫60% pyroxene (either clino- or orthopyroxene, or both). Other phases include olivine, hornblende, micas, garnet, feldspar, spinel, ilmenite, and sulfides. They have a gradational relationship with peridotites.
