Compositional Variations in the Vicinity of the Lunar Crust‐Mantle Interface From Moon Mineralogy Mapper Data

Martinot, M.; Flahaut, J.; Besse, S.; Quantin‐Nataf, Cathy; Westrenen, W. van

doi:10.1029/2018je005744

Cited by 11 publications

(13 citation statements)

References 65 publications

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“…The implications of the presence of ilmenite and quartz were already discussed in Lin et al (2017b). HCP has been observed by remote sensing in lunar craters with diameters larger than~40 km (e.g., Yamamoto et al 2015;Martinot et al 2018aMartinot et al , 2018b), suggesting its presence in the shallow lunar crust. The presence of HCP Fig.…”

Section: Comparison With a Nominally Dry Moonmentioning

confidence: 88%

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Experimental constraints on the solidification of a hydrous lunar magma ocean

Lin

Hui

Xia

et al. 2019

Meteorit & Planetary Scien

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The identification of hydrogen in a range of lunar samples and the similarity of its abundance and isotopic composition with terrestrial values suggest that water could have been present in the Moon since its formation. To quantify the effect of water on early lunar differentiation, we present new analyses of a high-pressure, high-temperature experimental study designed to model the mineralogical and geochemical evolution of the solidification material equivalent to 700 km deep lunar magma oceans first reported in Lin et al. (2017a). We also performed additional experiments to better quantify water contents in the run products. Water contents in the melt phases in hydrous run products spanning a range of crystallization steps were quantified directly using a secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS). Results suggest that a significant but constant proportion (68 AE 5%) of the hydrogen originally added to the experiments was lost from the starting material independent of run conditions and run duration. The volume of plagioclase formed during our crystallization experiments can be combined with the measured water contents and the observed crustal thickness on the Moon to provide an updated lunar interior hygrometer. Our data suggest that at least 45-354 ppm H 2 O equivalent was present in the Moon at the time of crust formation. These estimates confirm the inference of Lin et al. (2017a) that the Moon was wet during its magma ocean stage, with corrected absolute water contents now comparable to estimates derived from the water content in a range of lunar samples.

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Section: Comparison With a Nominally Dry Moonmentioning

confidence: 88%

“…; Martinot et al. 2018a, 2018b), suggesting its presence in the shallow lunar crust. The presence of HCP is generally not linked to primary LMO crystallization processes, but Charlier et al.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 98%

Experimental constraints on the solidification of a hydrous lunar magma ocean

Lin

Hui

Xia

et al. 2019

Meteorit & Planetary Scien

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“…Although the olivine has been observed around the Crisium and Moscoviense basins (Yamamoto et al, ), which may have penetrated through the lunar crust (Miljkovic et al, ; Wieczorek et al, ), the exposures of olivine is thought to originate most likely from the lower crust (Head & Wilson, ; Pieters et al, ). As the distribution of olivine can be assumed to be heterogeneous laterally and vertically within the lower crust (Martinot, ), it cannot be the dominated material of upper mantle of the Moon.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Are the Moon's Nearside‐Farside Asymmetries the Result of a Giant Impact?

et al. 2019

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The Moon exhibits striking geological asymmetries in elevation, crustal thickness, and composition between its nearside and farside. Although several scenarios have been proposed to explain these asymmetries, their origin remains debated. Recent remote sensing observations suggest that (1) the crust on the farside highlands consists of two layers: a primary anorthositic layer with thickness of ~30‐50 km and on top a more mafic‐rich layer ~10 km thick and (2) the nearside exhibits a large area of low‐Ca pyroxene that has been interpreted to have an impact origin. These observations support the idea that the lunar nearside‐farside asymmetries may be the result of a giant impact. Here using quantitative numerical modeling, we test the hypothesis that a giant impact on the early Moon can explain the striking differences in elevation, crustal thickness, and composition between the nearside and farside of the Moon. We find that a large impactor, impacting the current nearside with a low velocity, can form a mega‐basin and reproduce the characteristics of the crustal asymmetry and structures comparable to those observed on the current Moon, including the nearside lowlands and the farside's mafic‐rich layer on top of a primordial anorthositic crust. Our model shows that the excavated deep‐seated KREEP (potassium, rare earth elements, and phosphorus) material, deposited close to the basin rim, slumps back into the basin and covers the entire basin floor; subsequent large impacts can transport the shallow KREEP material to the surface, resulting in its observed distribution. In addition, our model suggests that prior to the asymmetry‐forming impact, the Moon may have had an 182W anomaly compared to the immediate post‐giant impact Earth's mantle, as predicted if the Moon was created through a giant collision with the proto‐Earth.

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“…One would expect a sample that originated in the mantle to contain little to no plagioclase and be rich in early‐crystallizing minerals. By contrast, mafic compositions with higher relative abundances of plagioclase would more likely originate from a crustal source (Arnold et al, 2016; Martinot et al, 2018).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Olivine is rare on the lunar surface and tends to be associated with larger (>300 km diameter) impact basins (Martinot et al, 2018; Melosh et al, 2017; Miljković et al, 2015; Yamamoto et al, 2010). Using visible (VIS)‐near‐infrared (NIR) data from the Spectral Profiler (SP) on SELENE/Kaguya, Yamamoto et al (2010) reported olivine exposures at six sites around the Imbrium Basin and interpret this material to have originated in the mantle.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Identification of Potential Mantle Rocks Around the Lunar Imbrium Basin

Bretzfelder

Klima

Greenhagen

et al. 2020

Geophysical Research Letters

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Basin-forming impacts expose material from deep within the interior of the Moon. Given the number of lunar basins, one would expect to find samples of the lunar mantle among those returned by the Apollo or Luna missions or within the lunar meteorite collection. However, only a few candidate mantle samples have been identified. Some remotely detected locations have been postulated to contain mantle-derived material, but none are mineralogically consistent upon study with multiple techniques. To locate potential remnants of the lunar mantle, we searched for early-crystallizing minerals using data from the Moon Mineralogy Mapper (M 3) and the Diviner Lunar Radiometer (Diviner). While the lunar crust is largely composed of plagioclase, the mantle should contain almost none. M 3 spectra were used to identify massifs bearing mafic minerals and Diviner was used to constrain the relative abundance of plagioclase. Of the sites analyzed, only Mons Wolff was found to potentially contain mantle material. Plain Language Summary During the Moon's early development, minerals such as olivine and pyroxene would have crystallized first, sinking toward the lunar interior and becoming the primary components of the mantle. After approximately 70-80% of the magma ocean solidified, plagioclase began to crystallize and floated on the iron-rich residual melt. The lunar highland crust is characterized by an abundance of plagioclase, whereas samples of the mantle should contain very little plagioclase. Considering the size and number of large impact basins on the Moon, one would expect that some of these dug through the lunar crust, exposing lunar mantle. However, very few candidates for mantle material have been identified among the lunar samples on Earth. This study uses near-infrared data from the Moon Mineralogy Mapper to identify sites on the surface that contain early-crystallizing minerals (olivine and pyroxene), which are indicative of mantle material. These sites were then analyzed using data from the Diviner Lunar Radiometer, which is able to constrain the abundance of these minerals relative to the amount of plagioclase present. Based on our analysis, the Imbrium Basin contains only one instance of rocks that are mineralogically consistent with being sourced from the mantle.

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Compositional Variations in the Vicinity of the Lunar Crust‐Mantle Interface From Moon Mineralogy Mapper Data

Cited by 11 publications

References 65 publications

Experimental constraints on the solidification of a hydrous lunar magma ocean

Experimental constraints on the solidification of a hydrous lunar magma ocean

Are the Moon's Nearside‐Farside Asymmetries the Result of a Giant Impact?

Identification of Potential Mantle Rocks Around the Lunar Imbrium Basin

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