Mathematics – Logic
Scientific paper
Sep 1972
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=1972moon....5..422z&link_type=abstract
The Moon, Volume 5, Issue 3-4, pp. 422-435
Mathematics
Logic
Scientific paper
Crystallization from the molten state has been an important process for the formation of rocks on the Moon; the phenomenon of fractional crystallization is therefore discussed. The principal chemical and mineralogical features of the Apollo 11, 12 and 14 basaltic crystalline rocks are described, and an account is given of other rock types and minerals which are represented among the coarser particles in the lunar soils. A comparison is made between the chemical compositions (major, minor and trace element concentrations) of rocks and soils. Based upon the above data, one possible model for the outer shell of the Moon is presented, which consists of an outer layer of Al-rich rocks underlain by a layer which is more ferromagnesian in character. Partial melting of the latter was probably responsible for the extrusion of lavas at the surface which spread to form the basalts (Apollo 11 and 12) of the non-circular maria. The Apollo 14 (Fra Mauro) basalts are relatively enriched in potassium, rare earth elements, zirconium, phosphorus and certain other elements and may derive from partial melting of the more aluminous upper layer. The separation of the outer Moon into two layers could have occurred through gravity-aided fractional crystallization at an early stage (first few hundred m yr) in lunar history.
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