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A chondrite / ˈ k ɒ n d r aɪ t / is a stony (non-metallic) meteorite that has not been modified, by either melting or differentiation of the parent body. They are formed when various types of dust and small grains in the early Solar System accreted to form primitive asteroids.
- Small to medium asteroids that were never part of a body large enough to undergo melting and planetary differentiation.
- Over 27,000
- 3–6
- Stony
They are made up of silicates, metal, and sulfide, and they appear to have formed as molten droplets at high temperatures in the early solar nebula. The chondrules are set in a fine-grained matrix that binds them together.
Chondrites are the most abundant meteorites (about 87 percent of stony meteorites) in collections. They also are arguably the most important. In terms of terrestrial rocks, these meteorites seem akin to sedimentary conglomerates—i.e., fragments of preexisting rock cemented together.
The chondrites take their name from chondrules, the nearly spherical, silicate-rich particles they contain. They are the most abundant type of stony meteorite, and contain some of the first objects to have formed in the Solar System, including calcium-aluminum-rich inclusions (CAIs) and chondrules.
carbonaceous chondrite, a diverse class of chondrites (one of the two divisions of stony meteorites), important because of the insights they provide into the early history of the solar system. They comprise about 3 percent of all meteorites collected after being seen to fall to Earth.
Chondrites are meteorites that provide the best clues to the origin of the solar system. They are the oldest known rocks—their components formed during the birth of the solar system ca. 4,567 Ma—and their abundances of nonvolatile elements are close to those in the solar photosphere.
Chondrules consist of iron-magnesium silicates, They formed by flash-heating to temperatures of 1300–1700 °C, following which some cooled rapidly (1000 °C per hour or more), others more slowly (down to 2–10 °C per hour).
