chondrite
/ˈkɒndrʌɪt
/noun
A stony meteorite containing small mineral granules (chondrules).My research has largely been in the chemistry of how the particular components of chondrites, very primitive meteorites, actually formed in the solar nebula....
- If the impact object was a stony carbonaceous chondrite there would be silicates all over the impact site.
- Carbonaceous chondrites are representative of the early material of the solar system, very primitive material, so it's the closest we get to the stuff from which the solar system evolved.
Derivatives
chondritic
- For Toutatis, Ostro hopes to find a higher density, because if the density he finds is high enough, it would be possible to exclude chondritic compositions and say for sure that Toutatis is a stony-iron object.
- Planetary geologists, however, know little about the lower mantle of the Moon, so no one knows whether it is chondritic.
- The answer comes from a fourth line of evidence on the deep-Earth composition: cosmic abundances of the elements deduced from analyses of chondritic meteorites and the solar photosphere.
Origin
Mid 19th century: from Greek khondros 'granule' + -ite1.