National Institute of Polar Research, 9–10, Kaga-1, Itabashi-ku, Tokyo 173, Japan
Abstract:
The five chemical classes of chondrite, i.e. E-, H-, L-, LL- and C-chondrite, and three major classes of achondrite, i.e. diogenite, eucrite plus howardite, and ureilite, are magnetically identified to respective separated domains on an Is (α)/Is versus Is diagram, where Is and Is (α) denote respectively the saturation magnetization and the saturation magnetization of α-phase alone. Three major groups of iron meteorite, i.e. hexahedrite plus Ni-poor ataxite, octahedrite and Ni-rich ataxite, are magnetically identified to respective domains on an Is (α)/Is versus → α diagram, where → α denotes → α transition temperature of kamacite phase in the cooling process. The magnetic classification schemes well represent the chemical characteristics of each meteorite class. The paleointensity (Fp) of meteorites determined to date can be summarized as Fp=0.01 ～ 0.1 Oe for eucrites and ureilites, Fp? 1 Oe for C-chondrites, and Fp? 10 Oe for E-chondrites.
