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Re: [Fwd: Pressure == 0 at the center of a mass?!]



Jim Hurley wrote:
> 
> One way I can think of something like this forming is if there
> were a substance in the core that underwent some kind of explosive
> state transition at a certain pressure.
> 

Hello Jim and list,

There is that possibility, but I can't imagine what might cause it. The
real contradiction we are faced with is that the vugs seem to have
formed before the Widmanstatten pattern and the Widmanstatten pattern
requires slow cooling over millions of years to form. The implication is
that the area of the parent body Albion comes from remained insulated in
a mantle and crust for quite some time.

There is also the possibility that the impact that shattered the parent
body occurred after the core had cooled below 500C, releasing the
tremendous pressure and allowing some contaminants within the Ni-Fe to
boil. I don't know if Ni-Fe is plastic enough at that temperature to
allow the vugs to form. The lack of shock deformation in Albion also
suggests it was some distance from the point of impact.

> It would have to leave some residue and evidence though, no?

Maybe we should have an explosives expert examine the crystal structures
in the vugs. ;-)

Gene


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