Application of Mössbauer spectroscopy for classification of ordinary chondrites – different database and different methods

Abstract

Classification of the meteorites is very complex, but in general all meteorites can be divided into three groups: stony, iron and stony-iron.Ordinary chondrites are the most numerous group among stony meteorites. In this paper, we present short review of the methods of classification of ordinary chondrites. The classical method for the classification of ordinary chondrites is based on the determination of the content of fayalite in olivine and of the content of ferrosilite in pyroxene with the use of electron microprobe. This method was proposed in 1967. Studies on the application of Mössbauer spectroscopy to classification of ordinary chondrites were carried out since early 2000 in four Mössbauer laboratories. Mössbauer groups from Kanpur, Ekaterinburg and Canberra suggested qualitative methods of classification of ordinary chondrites. Warsaw group created quantitative method called the “4M method”. This name derives from following words: meteorites, Mössbauer spectroscopy, multidimensional discriminant analysis, Mahalanobis distance. In this publication, we describe the use of 4M method for reclassification of meteorite Goronyo.