A Mössbauer Study of Meteorites — A possible Criterion to Identify Meteorites from the same Parent Body?

Nine ordinary chondrites and synthetic troilite were investigated to test the hypothesis that the Mossbauer parameters of troilite could serve as a suitable criterion to establish whether various meteorites come from the same parent body. It was noticed that in five meteorites (four falls and one find) the coefficient of asymmetry is rather small (η≤0.2) and that angles φ and θ have similar values (φ <7 °, θ≅49°). In the other group of four meteorites (finds) η has a larger value, between 0.33 and 0.74. This spread of Mossbauer parameters for troilite raises the question of whether this is caused by different conditions of crystallisation in the parent body or by processes of alteration on the Earth’s surface.