Vesicle

Vesicles appear in nature when they are produced within lavaHot molten or semifluid rock derived from a volcano or surface fissure from a differentiated and magmatically active parent body. Click on Term to Read More (extrusiveRefers to igneous rocks erupted on a planetary body's surface. Click on Term to Read More aphanitic igneous rockOne of the three basic types of rock that also include sedimentary and metamorphic. Igneous rocks are formed by the solidification of magma and comprised predominately of silicate minerals. Based on bulk chemical analysis, igneous rocks can be grouped into four major groups based on their SiO2 content: 1. Felsic: Click on Term to Read More) whose dissolved gases come out of solution (are released) due to the drop in pressure during an eruption. The resulting lava solidifies around the gas bubbles capturing their shape inside and outside the rock. Vesicles do not appear in intrusiveRefers to igneous rocks that crystallized underground. Click on Term to Read More (plutonicGeology: Igneous intrusive body that forms when magma is injected into host rocks and solidifies. Plutons occur in the crust of asteroids undergoing differentiation or planets. Named after Pluto, the Roman god of the underworld. Plutonic rocks are the rocks found within a pluton. Astronomy: Category of planet including all Click on Term to Read More) rocks.

Very few meteorites contain vesicles and even fewer contain vesicles throughout the meteoriteWork in progress. A solid natural object reaching a planet’s surface from interplanetary space. Solid portion of a meteoroid that survives its fall to Earth, or some other body. Meteorites are classified as stony meteorites, iron meteorites, and stony-iron meteorites. These groups are further divided according to their mineralogy and Click on Term to Read More. Very small to medium-sized vesicles can be found in stony meteorites as part of the the trailing surface of the crustOutermost layer of a differentiated planet, asteroid or moon, usually consisting of silicate rock and extending no more than 10s of km from the surface. The term is also applied to icy bodies, in which case it is composed of ices, frozen gases, and accumulated meteoritic material. On Earth, the Click on Term to Read More, within shock veins or impact melts inside the meteorite, and in very rare instances as part meteorite’s texture as seen in the Ibitira meteorite.

Since meteorites are very rare and difficult to findMeteorite not seen to fall, but recovered at some later date. For example, many finds from Antarctica fell 10,000 to 700,000 years ago. Click on Term to Read More as a random event, and vesicles in meteorites are themselves rare, the presence of discernible vesicles as part of a rock of unknown origin is a definitive indicator the rock is not a meteorite and terrestrial (either natural or man-made). For example, the presence of large vesicles is very common in the slag produced as a byproduct of refining metals like iron, and this slag is one of the most common meteorwrongs.