Department of Geology - Portland State University
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Research Page for Dr. Alexander M. Ruzicka

 
Udei Station silicate-bearing iron, with mm-scale at left. (Polished and etched sample CML0264-2.)
Cross-polarized transmitted light image of Udei Station showing olivine, clinopyroxene, plagioclase, metal and troilite; the field-of-view is approximately 7.8 mm wide.
Major research projects:
  • Aggregational olivine inclusions in chondrites-- how early-formed dust evolved in the solar system and how it relates to other primitive material (chondrules and CAIs)
  • Silicates in iron meteorites-- what silicate-bearing iron meteorites tell us about the melting, differentiation, and collisional histories of early planetary bodies in the solar system 
  • Relict olivine grains in chondrules-- what grains that were incompletely molten during chondrule melting epsiodes tell us about the chemical, physical, thermal, and isotopic evolution of chondrules


Other research projects:

  • Petrologic study of the Portales Valley hybrid meteorite
  • Deformation and thermal history of the Portales Valley meteorite
  • Complex shock effects in the Buck Mountains Wash chondrite
  • Dark inclusions (DIs) in carbonaceous chondrites 
  • NWA 2999 angrite
  • Franconia, Arizona area meteorites 

 
Image above:
A strip of the Vigarano (CV3) meteorite showing typical chondritic texture, including chondrules, CAIs (most white and pink objects), olivine aggregates (irregular grey objects), and interstitial matrix.  (Cut face of CML0377 sample.)


Last Updated: 13 December 2006