Occurrence of Whitlockite in Chondritic Meteorites

Abstract

The first reported occurrence of the tricalcium phosphate mineral, whitlockite, in several chondrites is described. The identification of this mineral and previously reported chlorapatite were made by x-ray diffraction; the results do not confirm the postulated existence of meteoritic merrillite. Some other remarks pertaining to the existence of merrillite are presented.