Megaregolith insulation, internal temperatures, and bulk uranium content of the moon

Details Megaregolith insulation, internal temperatures, and bulk uranium content of the moon Megaregolith insulation, internal temperatures, and bulk uranium content of the moon

Apr 1987

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=1987jgr....92.3453w&link_type=abstract

Journal of Geophysical Research (ISSN 0148-0227), vol. 92, April 10, 1986, p. 3453-3465. Research supported by the Statens Natur

Physics

59

Lunar Composition, Lunar Temperature, Regolith, Thermal Conductivity, Uranium, Apollo Flights, Highlands, Lunar Geology, Lunar Maria, Lunar Surface

Scientific paper

The moon is covered by a blanket of porous impact rubble (megaregolith) that probably averages about 2 - 3 km in thickness, and has a thermal conductivity of roughly 0.20 W m-1K-1. The authors employ finite difference models to study the effects of insulation by the megaregolith on lunar thermal evolution. The calculations indicate that heat flow at the Apollo 17 site is enhanced over the global mean by a factor of roughly 1.15 - 1.20. The effect is similar at the Apollo 15 site, which is probably further unrepresentative due to a local enrichment of (regolith) U and Th contents to 3.3 × the global mean. Adjusting the Apollo 17 heat flow for the boundary effect, the best estimate for global mean heat flow is 12 mW m-2. Assuming that the global mean megaregolith thickness is 2 km, a heat flow of 12 mW m-2 is best matched by models with bulk moon U contents of 20 - 21 ng/g. Independent constraints on lunar internal temperatures derived from magnetic and tectonic data are best matched by models with ≈14 ng/g U. Thus the best estimate for the bulk moon U content is roughly 17 ng/g. These results imply that the bulk moon contents of U, and related refractory lithophile elements such as Th, Al, Ca, etc., must be considerably lower than commonly assumed.

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