Pre-4.2 AE mare-basalt volcanism in the lunar highlands

Taylor, L. A.; Shervais, John W.; Hunter, Robert H.; Shih, C.-Y.; Bansal, B. M.; Wooden, Joseph L.; Nyquist, L. E.; Laul, L.C.

doi:10.1016/0012-821x(83)90124-3

Cited by 115 publications

(80 citation statements)

References 16 publications

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“…Partial melting of the mantle is found to occur over most of the Moon's history, and the maximum depth of melting is shown to increase with time to a depth of about 600 km. This model result is consistent with the long duration of mare volcanism (from at least 4.2 Ga [Taylor et al, 1983] to about 900 Ma [Schultz and Spudis, 1983]) as well as the depth of origin of mare basalts (<540 km [e.g., Longhi, 1992] [Ryder, 1994]. (4) The reason that an igneous protolith to the Low-K Fra Mauro ("LKFM") mafic impact-melt breccias has never been found is that this impact melt is a mixture, of which one component was initially molten [Spudis et al, 1991].…”

Section: In This Paper We First Argue (As Do Dolliff Et Al [This Isssupporting

confidence: 78%

The “Procellarum KREEP Terrane”: Implications for mare volcanism and lunar evolution

Wieczorek¹,

Phillips²

2000

J. Geophys. Res.

308

332

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Abstract. Geophysical, remote-sensing, and sample data demonstrate that the Procellarum and Imbrium regions of the Moon make up a unique geochemical crustal province (here dubbed the Procellarum KREEP Terrane). Geochemical studies of Imbrium's ejecta and the crustal structure of the Imbrium and Serenitatis basins both suggest that a large portion of the lunar crust in this locale is composed of a material similar in composition to Apollo 15 KREEP basalt. KREEP basalt has about 300 times more uranium and thorium than chondrites, so this implies that a large portion of Moon's heat-producing elements is located within this single crustal province. The spatial distribution of mare volcanism closely parallels the confines of the Procellarum KREEP Terrane and this suggests a causal relationship between the two phenomena. We have modeled the Moon's thermal evolution using a simple thermal conduction model and show that as a result of the high abundance of heat-producing elements that are found in the Procellarum KREEP Terrane, partial melting of the underlying mantle is an inevitable outcome. Specifically, by placing a 10-km KREEP basalt layer at the base of the crust there, our model predicts that mare volcanism should span most of the Moon's history and that the depth of melting should increase with time to a maximum depth of about 600 km. We suggest that the 500-km seismic discontinuity that is observed in the Apollo seismic data may represent this maximum depth of melting. Our model also predicts that the KREEP basalt layer should remain partially molten for a few billion years. Thus the Imbrium impact event most likely excavated into a partially molten KREEP basalt magma chamber. We postulate that the KREEP basalt composition is a byproduct of mixing urKREEP with shallow partial melts of the underlying mantle. Since Mg-suite rocks are likely derived from crystallizing KREEP basalt, the provenance of these plutonic rocks is likely to be unique to this region of the Moon.

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Section: In This Paper We First Argue (As Do Dolliff Et Al [This Isssupporting

confidence: 78%

The “Procellarum KREEP Terrane”: Implications for mare volcanism and lunar evolution

Wieczorek¹,

Phillips²

2000

J. Geophys. Res.

308

332

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“…Previous studies of dark haloed craters and light plains revealed the presence of cryptomaria (i.e., maria that were buried by ejecta from large craters or basins) and interpreted them as evidence for ancient mare volcanism (e.g., Spudis, 1978, 1983;Hawke and Bell, 1981;Bell and Hawke, 1984;Antonenko et al, 1995). Such ancient mare volcanism has been supported by radiometric analyses of rock samples returned from the lunar nearside (e.g., Taylor et al, 1983;Dasch et al, 1987;Nyquist et al, 2001) and lunar meteorites (Terada et al, 2007), which indicate ages of 4.2-4.35 Gyr for their basalt clasts. In the central northern region of the farside, the onset of mare volcanism is not well understood, even though our results indicate that mare volcanism began at least as early as 3.9 Gyr ago, for a total duration of ∼1.3 Gyr.…”

Section: Duration Of Mare Volcanism In the Fhtmentioning

confidence: 87%

Timing and duration of mare volcanism in the central region of the northern farside of the Moon

et al. 2011

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Age determinations of lunar mare basalts are essential for understanding the thermal evolution of the Moon. In this study, we performed new crater size-frequency measurements in mare deposits in the central region of the northern farside, consisting of Lacus Luxuriae, Buys-Ballot, Campbell, and Kohlschütter, using high-resolution images obtained by SELENE (Kaguya) Terrain Camera. The estimated model ages of the mare deposits range from 2.7 to 3.5 Ga. On the basis of model ages for all investigated mare deposits in the central part of the northern farside, considering the results of previous studies, we concluded that mare volcanism in this region began at least as early as 3.9 Ga and continued until ∼2.6 Ga. From a comparison of model ages in the region and the South Pole-Aitken basin, we found that mare volcanism in these regions ended at the same time, suggesting that the South Pole-Aitken basin formation impact had a minor effect on mare volcanism in the region.

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“…However, the time span of lunar magmatism probably exceeds these limits. The Apollo 14 mare basalt cumulates have been dated at 4.2 Ga (Taylor et al 1983), about the same age as many pristine highland rocks. This suggests that mare basalt formation may have played some role in early crustal genesis.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Longevity of Lunar Volcanism: Implications of Thermal Evolution Calculations with 2D and 3D Mantle Convection Models

Spohn

Konrad

Breuer

et al. 2001

Icarus

105

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Pre-4.2 AE mare-basalt volcanism in the lunar highlands

Cited by 115 publications

References 16 publications

The “Procellarum KREEP Terrane”: Implications for mare volcanism and lunar evolution

The “Procellarum KREEP Terrane”: Implications for mare volcanism and lunar evolution

Timing and duration of mare volcanism in the central region of the northern farside of the Moon

The Longevity of Lunar Volcanism: Implications of Thermal Evolution Calculations with 2D and 3D Mantle Convection Models

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