Evidence for metasomatism of the lunar highlands and the origin of whitlockite

Computer Science

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Basalt, Highlands, Lunar Evolution, Lunar Rocks, Lunar Soil, Abundance, Chemical Composition, Melts (Crystal Growth), Rare Earth Elements

Scientific paper

The origin of whitlockite, a REE-rich mineral present in lunar highlands, is investigated using available experimental results of elemental partitioning between whitlockite and melt and between two immiscible liquids. A comparison with occurrences in mare basalt mesostasis assemblages demonstrated that whitlockite in the lunar highlands has not resulted from crystallization from the residual interstitial melt, and the nature of REE partition coefficients for whitlockite showed that they cannot have crystallized from KREEP melts. The only lunar melt which contains REE abundances compatible with whitlockite composition is the basic immiscible melt derived from a KREEPy liquid. It is suggested that whitlockite found in the lunar highlands is a post-cumulus metasomatic phase that precipitated from a melt formed when the urKREEP underwent silicate liquid immiscibility.

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