The petrography and mineral and bulk chemistries of silicate inclusions in Sombrerete, an ungrouped iron that is one of the most phosphate-rich meteorites known, was studied using optical, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), electron microprobe analysis (EMPA), and secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS) techniques. Inclusions contain variable proportions of alkalic siliceous glass (~69 vol% of inclusions on average), aluminous orthopyroxene (~9%, Wo1-4Fs2535, up to ~3 wt% Al), plagioclase (~8%, mainly An7092), Cl-apatite (~7%), chromite (~4%), yagiite (~1%), phosphaterich segregations (~1%), ilmenite, and merrillite. Ytterbium and Sm anomalies are sometimes present in various phases (positive anomalies for phosphates, negative for glass and orthopyroxene), which possibly reflect phosphate-melt-gas partitioning under transient, reducing conditions at high temperatures. Phosphate-rich segregations and different alkalic glasses (K-rich and Na-rich) formed by two types of liquid immiscibility. Yagiite, a K-Mg silicate previously found in the Colomera (IIE) iron, appears to have formed as a late-stage crystallization product, possibly aided by Na-K liquid unmixing. Trace-element phase compositions reflect fractional crystallization of a single liquid composition that originated by low-degree (~48%) equilibrium partial melting of a chondritic precursor. Compositional differences between inclusions appear to have originated as a result of a filter-press differentiation process, in which liquidus crystals of Cl-apatite and orthopyroxene were less able than silicate melt to flow through the metallic host between inclusions. This process enabled a phosphoran basaltic andesite precursor liquid to differentiate within the metallic host, yielding a dacite composition for some inclusions. Solidification was relatively rapid, but not so fast as to prevent flow and immiscibility phenomena. Sombrerete originated near a cooling surface in the parent body during rapid, probably impact-induced, mixing of metallic and silicate liquids. We suggest that Sombrerete formed when a planetesimal undergoing endogenic differentiation was collisionally disrupted, possibly in a breakup and reassembly event. Simultaneous endogenic heating and impact processes may have widely affected silicate-bearing irons and other solar system matter.

Shatter cones have been described from many meteorite impact structures and are widelyregarded as a diagnostic macroscopic recognition feature for impact. However, the origin of thismeso- to macroscopic striated fracture phenomenon has not yet been satisfactorily resolved, and thetiming of shatter cone formation in the cratering process still remains enigmatic. Here, previousresults from studies of shatter cones from the Vredefort impact structure and other impact structuresare discussed in the light of new field observations made in the Vredefort Dome. Contrary to earlier claims, Vredefort cone fractures do not show uniform apex orientations at any given outcrop, nor do small cones show a pattern consistent with the previously postulated master cone concept. Simple back-rotation of impact-rotated strata to a horizontal pre-impact position also does not lead to a uniform centripetal-upward orientation of the cone apices. Striation patterns on the cone surfaces are variable, ranging from the typically diverging pattern branching off the cone apex to subparallel-to parallel patterns on almost flat surfaces. Striation angles on shatter cones do not increase with distance from the center of the dome, as alleged in the literature. Instead, a range of striation angles is measured on individual shatter cones from a specific outcrop. New observations on small-scale structures in the collar around the Vredefort Dome confirm the relationship of shatter cones with subparallel sets of curviplanar fractures (so-called multipli-striated joint sets, MSJS). Pervasive, meter-scale tensile fractures cross-cut shatter cones and appear to have formed after the closely spaced MSJ-type fractures. The results of this study indicate that none of the existing hypotheses for the formation of shatter cones are currently able to adequately explain all characteristics of this fracturing phenomenon. Therefore, we favor a combination of aspects of different hypotheses that includes the interaction of elastic waves, as supported by numerical modeling results and which reasonably explains the variety of shatter cone shapes, the range of striation geometries and angles, and the relationship of closely spaced fracture systems with the striated surfaces. In the light of the currently available theoretical basis for the formation of shatter cones, the results of this investigation lead to the conclusion that shatter cones are tensile fractures and might have formed during shock unloading, after the passage of the shock wave through the target rocks.

A simple thermal model is developed to determine the temperature history of the inlet tube of the Huygens probe gas chromatograph mass spectrometer (GCMS) after its fortuitous emplacement on the surface of Saturns moon Titan. The model parameters are adjusted to match the recorded temperature history of a nearby heater, taking into account heat losses by conduction to the rest of the probe and to Titans cold atmosphere. The model suggests that after impact when forced convective cooling ceased, the inlet temperature rose from ~110 K to an asymptotic value of only ~145 K. This requires that the inlet was embedded in a surface that acted as an effective heat sink, most plausibly interpreted as wet or damp with liquid methane. The data appear inconsistent with a tar or dry, fine-grained surface, and the inlet was not warm enough to devolatilize methane hydrate.

The three major geochemical methods for impactor identification are evaluated with respect to their potential and limitations with regards to the precise detection and identification of meteoritic material in impactites. The identification of a projectile component in impactites can be achieved by determining certain isotopic and elemental ratios in contaminated impactites. The isotopic methods are based on Os and Cr isotopic ratios. Osmium isotopes are highly sensitive for the detection of minute amounts of extraterrestrial components of even <<0.05 wt% in impactites. However, this only holds true for target lithologies with almost no chemical signature of mantle material or young mantle-derived mafic rocks. Furthermore, this method is not currently suitable for the precise identification of the projectile type. The Cr-isotopic method requires the relatively highest projectile contamination (several wt%) in order to detect an extraterrestrial component, but may allow the identification of three different groups of extraterrestrial materials, ordinary chondrites, an enstatite chondrites, and differentiated achondrites. A significant advantage of this method is its independence of the target lithology and post-impact alteration. The use of elemental ratios, including platinum group elements (PGE: Os, Ir, Ru, Pt, Rh, Pd), in combination with Ni and Cr represents a very powerful method for the detection and identification of projectiles in terrestrial and lunar impactites. For most projectile types, this method is almost independent of the target composition,especially if PGE ratios are considered. This holds true even in cases of terrestrial target lithologies with a high component of upper mantle material. The identification of the projectile is achieved by comparison of the “projectile elemental ratio” derived from the slope of the mixing line (target-projectile) with the elemental ratio in the different types of possible projectiles (e.g., chondrites). However, this requires a set of impactite samples of various degree of projectile contamination.