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Gems & Gemology, Fall 2011, Volume 47, No. 3
Identification of Extraterrestrial Peridot by Trace Elements
Andy H. Shen, John I. Koivula, and James E. Shigley
Twenty-six peridot samples from the Esquel pallasite meteorite and 27 samples from 10 terrestrial sources were studied by laser ablation–inductively coupled plasma–mass spectrometry (LAICP- MS). Among the 32 elements analyzed, six of them—Li, V, Mn, Co, Ni, and Zn—provided an excellent separation between pallasitic and terrestrial peridot.
