Pyroxene pallasite
Pyroxene pallasites are a tiny grouplet of pallasites that contain pyroxene as well as olivine in their metal.
Pyroxene pallasites form a small grouplet distinguished by containing millimetre-sized pyroxene crystals along with olivine in their metal. The best-known members are Vermillion, found in Kansas, and Yamato 8451, found in Antarctica.
Apart from the pyroxene, they differ from main-group pallasites in their oxygen isotopes and metal chemistry, which suggests a separate parent body. Their olivine is generally magnesium-rich, and the presence of pyroxene implies their source region was slightly richer in silica or formed under different conditions.
With main-group and Eagle Station pallasites, the pyroxene pallasites bring the number of pallasite parent bodies to at least three, and some ungrouped pallasites may represent more. Together these show that the mixing of metal and olivine was not a one-off accident but happened repeatedly in the early Solar System, a puzzle researchers are still working to explain.
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