Mathematics – Logic
Scientific paper
Dec 2010
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2010agufm.p53a1500z&link_type=abstract
American Geophysical Union, Fall Meeting 2010, abstract #P53A-1500
Mathematics
Logic
[5460] Planetary Sciences: Solid Surface Planets / Physical Properties Of Materials, [6250] Planetary Sciences: Solar System Objects / Moon
Scientific paper
This report provides an update of the on-going geochemical and geochronological results obtained from the study of lunar impact glasses extracted from the Apollo 14, 16, and 17 regolith samples. Lunar impact glasses are droplets of melt produced by energetic cratering events that were quenched during ballistic flight and possess the unmodified refractory element ratios of the original fused target materials at the sites of impacts. They are quite abundant in the lunar regolith and their compositions can be used to not only constrain the impact history of the Moon but also to decipher how the lunar regolith has evolved over time. Previously, we showed that Clementine color image data of the regional provenance of the Apollo 14 site provided a context in which to interpret the geochemistry of Apollo 14 lunar impact glasses. The results suggest that the highlands in the Frau Mauro region of the Moon consist of a basaltic debris layer that overlies a more feldspathic terrain in some areas (Zellner et al. 2002). Thus, the mapping effort demonstrated the efficacy of using Clementine image data to place lunar sample information into a regional context. Apollo 16 impact glasses have also been studied, and orbital geochemical data indicate that the region is KREEP-poor and representative of typical highland basalt; a large fraction of glasses extracted from the Apollo 16 regolith sample studied possess this composition. Geochemical studies of some of the glasses, however, indicate a source region that is comprised of low-Mg high-K Frau Mauro materials. The 40Ar/39Ar ages from these four impact glasses show that the Moon experienced a significant impact at ~3730 Ma, somewhere in the vicinity of the Apollo 16 landing site (Delano et al. 2007). However, while evident in the lunar impact glass samples, this composition has not yet been revealed explicitly by orbital data. On-going analyses of the lunar impact glasses, interpreted in conjunction with their age, have identified other groups of glasses with similar ages that most likely formed in one impact event and also glasses with compositions that are quite atypical of the local (i.e., typical) regoliths from which they were extracted. Preliminary results will be presented here. Lunar orbital data may allow us to place these atypical glasses into a regional, and perhaps global, context.
Delano J.
Swindle Timothy
Zellner Nicolle
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