Discovery of Meteoritic Calzirtite in Leoville: A New Ultrarefractory Phase from the Solar Nebula

Abstract

During a nanomineralogy investigation of the Leoville CV3 carbonaceous chondrite, calzirtite (Ca2Zr5Ti2O16) was identified in an ultrarefractory inclusion within an amoeboid olivine aggregate, using field-emission scanning electron microscope (SEM), energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS) and electron back-scatter diffraction (EBSD) analyses. Reported here is the discovery of calzirtite in a primitive meteorite, as one of first formed solids in the solar system.