Other
Scientific paper
Mar 1996
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=1996lpi....27..837m&link_type=abstract
Lunar and Planetary Science, volume 27, page 837
Other
Crust: Lunar, Kreep, Low-K Fra Mauro (Lkfm), Stratigraphy
Scientific paper
Intense bombardment during the first 600 Ma of lunar history has rendered the task of reconstructing the stratigraphy of the lunar crust especially difficult. On a planetary scale, the distribution of lithologies around multi-ringed basins coupled with orbital geochemical data reveal that the lunar crust is heterogeneous both laterally and vertically. Ejecta from the large multi-ringed basins is exclusively of crustal origin since twenty five years of lunar sample study have failed to identify any unequivocal mantle samples. Given the most recent determination of crustal thickness, this implies an upper limit to the depth of excavation of around 60 km. In the younger multi-ringed basins (Orientale and Imbrium), the occurrence of anorthosites in inner rings is consistent with an anorthositic upper crust (Al2O3 = 26-28 wt.%). On the other hand, basin impact melts, most notably the low-K Fra Mauro (LKFM) composition associated with the Imbrium and Serenitatis basins, are distinctly more mafic with a composition corresponding to norite (Al2O3 ~ 20 wt.%). Cratering models suggest that such melts are generated at the lower to middle crustal depths (30 to 60 km). The paucity of unequivocal deep-seated crystalline plutonic rocks is also consistent with cratering models which suggest that unmelted rock fragments in ejecta blankets are most likely derived from the upper part of the crust. Consequently, the possibility exists that no crystalline lunar samples from deeper that ~30 km are present in the returned sample collection.
McCallum Stewart I.
O'Brien Hugh E.
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