Early differentiation of the moon - Evidence from trace elements in plagioclase

Details Early differentiation of the moon - Evidence from trace elements in plagioclase Early differentiation of the moon - Evidence from trace elements in plagioclase

Nov 1984

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=1984lpsc...15....3p&link_type=abstract

(Lunar and Planetary Institute, NASA, American Geophysical Union, et al., Lunar and Planetary Science Conference, 15th, Houston,

Physics

4

Chondrites, Highlands, Lunar Craters, Lunar Rocks, Neutron Activation Analysis, Trace Elements, Apollo 16 Flight, Kreep, Rare Earth Elements, Moon, Differentiation, Trace Elements, Plagioclase, Minerals, Grains, Ferroan Materials, Anorthosites, North Ray, Apollo 16, Analysis, Neutron Activation Analysis, Inaa, Concentration, Rare Earth Elements, Source, Formation, Crystallization, Enrichment, Patterns, Comparisons, Composition, Kreep, Element Ratios, Fractional Crystallization, Samples, Lunar

Scientific paper

Bulk samples and plagioclase mineral grains from lunar cataclastic ferroan anorthosites were analyzed for trace elements by instrumental neutron activation analysis. Some pure plagioclase crystals have lower concentrations of Cr, Co, Sc, and heavy REEs than previous analyses indicated. Concentrations of Sr, Eu, Na, Ga, and the REEs in plagioclases from different anorthosites vary in a systematic way, and the trace element patterns of plagioclases from pristine norites and troctolites are very different from the plagioclase pattern of anorthosites. The following model is suggested to account for these observations: (1) melting of a large fraction of the moon, formation of a magma ocean, precipitation of olivine and later pyroxene, followed by flotation of cumulus plagioclase; (2) mixing of KREEP with a mafic component enriched in Mg, Cr, and Co; (3) precipitation of noritic and troctolitic cumulates and metallic iron from this magma; and (4) eruption of these KREEP and Mg-rich lavas and/or distribution of these materials over the front-side of the moon by basin-forming impacts 3.9-4.0 b.y. ago.

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