Statistical tests of chondrule sorting

Abstract

The variation in sizes of chondrules from one chondrite to the next is thought to be due to some sorting process in the early solar nebula. Hypotheses for the sorting process include chondrule sorting by mass and sorting by some aerodynamic mechanism; one such aerodynamic mechanism is the process of turbulent concentration (TC). We present the results of a series of statistical tests of chondrule data from several different chondrites. The data do not clearly distinguish between various options for the sorting parameter, but we find that the data are inconsistent with being drawn from lognormal or (three-parameter) Weibull distributions in chondrule radius. We also find that all but one of the chondrule data sets tested are consistent with being drawn from the TC distribution. © The Meteoritical Society, 2010.