Imperfect fractional crystallization of the lunar magma ocean and formation of the lunar mantle: A realistic chemical approach

Details Imperfect fractional crystallization of the lunar magma ocean and formation of the lunar mantle: A realistic chemical approach Imperfect fractional crystallization of the lunar magma ocean and formation of the lunar mantle: A realistic chemical approach

Dec 1992

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=1992pcmo.work...51s&link_type=abstract

In Lunar and Planetary Inst., Workshop on the Physics and Chemistry of Magma Oceans from 1 Bar to 4 Mbar p 51-52 (SEE N92-28587

Physics

Crystallization, Lunar Geology, Lunar Mantle, Lunar Maria, Lunar Rocks, Lunar Soil, Magma, Oceans, Anorthosite, Basalt, Defects, Entrainment, Feldspars, Highlands, Interstitials, Intrusion, Melting, Mineralogy, Olivine, Petrography, Trapping

Scientific paper

It is generally considered that lunar mare basalts were generated by the melting of a cumulate mantle formed in an early Moon-wide magma ocean or magmasphere. However, the nature and chemistry of this cumulate mantle and the logistics of its origin have remained elusive. Extensive studies of terrestrial layered mafic intrusions over the past sixty years have emphasized the imperfection of fractional crystallization and attendant crystal-crystal and crystal-liquid separation in a convecting magma chamber. These separations were similarly inefficient during evolution of the lunar magmasphere, allowing for the trapping of interstitial melt and entrainment of a small proportion of less-dense plagioclase into the more-dense mafic cumulate mush. Indeed, petrography of lunar highlands samples demonstrates this well for anorthosites (with 1-10 percent olivine). Therefore, we propose a 'realistic' model for the evolution of the lunar mantle, which takes these observations into consideration, by the imperfect fractional crystallization of an early lunar magma ocean.

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