Distribution and Character of Lunar Low-Ca and Mg-Rich Pyroxenes

Details Distribution and Character of Lunar Low-Ca and Mg-Rich Pyroxenes Distribution and Character of Lunar Low-Ca and Mg-Rich Pyroxenes

Dec 2009

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2009agufm.p23b1249k&link_type=abstract

American Geophysical Union, Fall Meeting 2009, abstract #P23B-1249

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[5464] Planetary Sciences: Solid Surface Planets / Remote Sensing

Scientific paper

Evidence from Apollo and Luna samples and subsequent Lunar Prospector and Clementine data suggests that the primary lunar crust, currently preserved in the highlands, evolved from plagioclase floatation on a crystallizing magma ocean. Subsequent lunar volcanism, derived from partial melting of the mafic residue in the mantle, formed the lunar maria. Numerous questions remain concerning the composition of the lunar mantle and the origin of specific geochemically distinct lithologies such as the KREEP basalts and the Mg-rich highland suite. The Moon Mineralogy Mapper (M3), onboard Chandrayaan-1, India’s first mission to the Moon, provides an excellent opportunity to address the questions raised by previous sample studies by identifying the global context for specific lithologies. M3 was designed to image the lunar surface using a wavelength range of 430-3000 nm, a range that is ideal for mapping mafic mineralogy. Pyroxenes exhibit several diagnostic absorption bands within this wavelength region, which can be used to assess their specific mineral composition. A majority of pyroxenes, found particularly in the mare samples, are extensively zoned and/or exsolved due to their complicated cooling histories. M3 spectra of the lunar nearside suggest that the maria are dominated by basalts composed of Fe-rich pyroxenes, zoned similarly to those present in the Apollo mare basalt samples. However, the high spatial and spectral resolution of M3 have also revealed outcrops of low-Ca, Mg-rich pyroxene (enstatite rich) on both hemispheres of the Moon. Outcrops of low-Ca pyroxenes have so far been identified within the inner ring of the Moscoviense basin, within the Outer Rook Mountains of Orientale, and south of the Apollo 15 landing site near the crater Aratus. Deconvolutions of these and other low-Ca pyroxene outcrops have permitted the mapping of the distribution and compositions of new localities with high- and low- Mg orthopyroxenes and pigeonites on the lunar surface.

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