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At least 793 records · Page 44

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NASA NTRS1974

Sulfur abundances and distributions in the valley of Taurus-Littrow

Total sulfur abundances have been determined for 36 Apollo 17 soil, breccia and crystalline rock samples. Sulfur concentrations range from 550 to 1300 micrograms S/g for soil samples, with the orange soil containing the lowest amount of sulfur. Noritic breccias contain between 720 and 950 micrograms S/g, while the anorthositic rocks have sulfur contents of 270 and 368 micrograms S/g. The dunite 72415 contained the lowest sulfur content (44 micrograms S/g) of any Apollo 17 sample studied. Apollo 17 basalts have unusually high sulfur contents (1580-2770 micrograms S/g) as compared to Apollo 12 and 15 basalts and terrestrial basalts. Sulfur abundances for the Apollo 17 basalts are almost identical to those from Apollo 11 basalts. A negative correlation between percent metallic iron and total sulfur for the Apollo 17 and 15 basalts was found and suggests that a portion of the metallic iron in lunar basalts may result from desulfuration of the melt prior to crystallization from the lunar magma.

Gibson, E. K., Jr.↗

NASA NTRS1974

On the origin of mascons and moonquakes

Hypotheses are proposed for the origin of mascons and moonquakes. It is noted that a horizontal transfer of magma is required to explain the mascons and that a basin which can fill with lava to a depth of about 20 km is necessary before mascon formation is possible. It is shown that hydrostatic equilibrium theories can account for the excess filling of lava in circular maria and that mascons will result when this process occurs in the presence of a thick rigid lithosphere. It is postulated that a cylindrical fault system extends through the lithosphere and surrounds the circular maria. In this case, the release of potential energy through the fault system would be adequate to explain moonquakes, their properties, and the clustering of the locations of lunar transient events around the circular maria.

Runcorn, S. K.↗

NASA NTRS1975

Origin of titaniferous lunar basalts

Delineation of low pressure phase equilibria in the composition space relevant to titaniferous lunar basalts demonstrates a significant degree of control by those equilibria on the compositions of the basalts. The existence of two distinct chemical groups of basalts (high and low K) which cannot be related one to the other by fractional crystallization at any pressure, suggests that melting is responsible for the two groups. Consideration of the pressure shift required to produce the differences between groups constrains magma segregation to have occurred in the outer 150 km of the moon. It is difficult to relate low-Ti and high-Ti basalts to the same source region. The preferred source region of high-Ti basalts, based on phase equilibrium considerations, is a late ilmenite-rich cumulate produced from the residual liquid of the primordial differentiation of the outer portions of the moon. This ilmenite-rich layer is sandwiched between the lunar feldspathic crust and a complementary mafic cumulate.

Walker, D.↗

NASA NTRS1975

History of Boulder 1 at Station 2, Apollo 17 based on trace element interrelationships

Correlations among the trace and minor element pairs Cl and Br, Cl and P2O5, and Ru and Os, present in parent igneous rocks, generally survived the processes of boulder breccia formation. Fractions of Cl, Br, and Hg that are mobilized by water leaching or volatilization at moderate temperatures place constraints on the thermal history of Boulder 1 and its component breccias. Since, and possibly during, consolidation, the boulder has probably not been subjected to temperatures in excess of 450 C. The parent rocks of the Apollo 17 boulder and breccia samples studied could have been derived from two initial magmas. Vapor clouds from apparently external sources permeated the source regions of the boulders.

Jovanovic, S.↗

NASA NTRS1976

Heterogeneity in titaniferous lunar basalts

Small but real chemical differences exist between subsamples of fine-grained quench-textured titaniferous lunar basalts. The existence of different textural domains with different chemistries is thought to account for most of this variation. In addition to the textural domains, lunar sample 74275 has a population of olivine 'megacrysts' as well as dunite fragments. These materials are thought to be extraneous and to compromise the primary nature of 74275. Recognition of the small chemical variations present may aid in understanding some discrepancies in the experimental-petrology literature. However, these small variations have a distressing petrogenetic significance since they severely limit resolution in recognizing the number and depth of origin of primary magmas.

Walker, D.↗

NASA NTRS1976

Rare earth element abundances in rocks and minerals from the Fiskenaesset Complex, West Greenland

The paper reports activation-analysis determinations of rare-earth-element (REE) and other trace-element concentrations in selected rocks, plagioclase, and mafic separates from the Fiskenaesset Complex. The REE abundances are found to be very low and atypical in comparison with other terrestrial anorthosites. The plagioclases are shown to be characterized by a deficiency in heavy RE elements relative to light ones and a positive Eu anomaly, while the mafic separates are enriched in heavy rare earths and have no Eu anomaly, except in one sample. It is found that the bulk and trace-element abundances of the plagioclases are similar to those observed in some lunar anorthosites, but the degree of Eu anomaly is less in the plagioclases. The data are taken as confirmation of the idea that fractionation processes were involved in the origin of the Complex, and it is concluded that the Complex may have been produced from a magma generated by partial melting of a garnet-bearing source.

Henderson, P.↗

NASA NTRS1975

Some thoughts on the origin of lunar ANT-KREEP and mare basalts

It is suggested that a series of ANT (anorthosite-norite-troctolite)-KREEP type rocks and the source material for mare basalts sampled by Apollo 11, 12, 15, and 17 may have been derived from a common magmatic differentiation. This differentiation is studied on the basis of a model which proposes that, in the early history of the moon, extensive melting occurred in the outer lunar shell and a magma layer of 100-200 km was formed. The presence of a residual liquid which has not yet been sampled is suspected between high-K KREEP and the Apollo 11 basalt materials. This residual liquid would have a FeO/MgO ratio greater than one and would be significantly enriched in apatite, zircon, K-feldspar, and ilmenite minerals.

Wakita, H.↗

NASA NTRS1975

New evidence for impact origin of the Bushveld Complex, South Africa

The importance of hypervelocity impacts as a geologic process is demonstrated by the example of the Bushveld Complex and the (nearby) Vredefort Ring. Each is interpreted as the result of four simultaneous impacts modified by large-scale endogenic processes triggered by the impact event. The layered mafic sequence and the voluminous red granite associated with the complex are endogenic magmas, probably generated by pressure release accompanying crater excavation. Shock melting of older sedimentary rocks must have produced a layer of impact melt (the Rooiberg Felsite), the upper part of which was extruded over its originally chilled crust as a series of thick lava flows. Field evidence and radiometric age determinations indicate that the Bushveld Complex formed approximately 2000 billion years ago.

Rhodes, R. C.↗

NASA NTRS1977

Mare basalt petrogenesis

Melting experiments in vacuum at Fe-saturation for high-Ti lunar basalt compositions 70215 and 15318 Red Glass, and low-Ti basalt composition 15555-15016, have defined equilibrium crystallization sequences and the liquid lines of descent, and show that much of the chemical variety in the samples is due to near-surface fractionation processes. The various groups within the high-Ti suite, however, cannot be interrelated by such processes, nor can the high-Ti suite be a near-surface derivative of a low-Ti parent magma.

Kesson, S. E.↗

NASA NTRS1976

Fe and Mg in plagioclase

Distribution coefficients for Fe and Mg between plagioclase and basaltic liquids were measured for lunar, terrestrial and synthetic systems. The data obtained imply that lunar anorthosites crystallized from relatively iron-rich liquids, that Fe/Mg zoning in plagioclase is an indicator of crystallization processes in basaltic magmas, and that Fe/Mg heterogeneity in plagioclase is a clue to the recognition of impact melts.

Longhi, J.↗

NASA NTRS1976

Chemistry, classification, and petrogenesis of Apollo 17 mare basalts

Major- and trace-element data is presented for a large number of petrographically diverse Apollo 17 basalts, and an attempt is made to evaluate what proportion of the total compositional variance can be attributed to near-surface crystal fractionation and what proportion to magma-generating processes such as partial melting and source heterogeneity. Three well-defined and self-consistent basalt types were identified on the basis of data for fine-grained, rapidly-chilled samples.

Rhodes, J. M.↗

NASA NTRS1976

The asymmetric distribution of lunar maria and the earth's gravity

The paper investigates the hypothesis that the asymmetry of the moon with respect to the distribution of maria, reflected in that the surface area of the moon covered by mare material is far greater on the earth-facing side than on the far side, is due to the action of the earth's gravity at a time when the moon was less distant from the earth than today. Such conditions would lead to gravitationally favored areas on the moon such that mare basalt magmas might erupt preferentially on the front side of the moon. Gravitational asymmetry is also discussed in terms of its effect on the shape of the moon, its center of mass, its moments of inertia, and the time scale for the evolution of its orbit.

Hartung, J. B.↗

NASA NTRS1976

Shield volcanism and lithospheric structure beneath the Tharsis plateau, Mars

The heights of four great shield volcanoes, when interpreted as reflecting the local hydrostatic head on a common source of upwelling magma, provide significant constraints on models of lithospheric structure beneath the Tharsis plateau. If Bouguer gravity anomalies are modeled in terms of a variable thickness crust, and a two-component (crust/mantle) earth-like structure is assumed for the Martian lithosphere, the derived model lithosphere beneath the Tharsis plateau has the following properties: (1) the upper low-density 'crustal' component is thickened beneath the Tharsis plateau; (2) the lower high-density 'mantle' component is thinned beneath the Tharsis plateau; and (3) there is a net gradient on the base of the Martian lithosphere directed downward away from beneath the summit of the Tharsis plateau. A long history of magmatic intrusion is hypothesized to have been the cause of the updoming of the Tharsis plateau and the maintenance of the plateau in a state of only partial compensation.

Blasius, K. R.↗

NASA NTRS1977

Genesis of the Angra dos Reis and other achondritic meteorites

Major, minor, and trace element abundances were determined in seven Angra dos Reis samples, which included whole rocks, fassaite (clinopyroxene), olivine, and whitlockite separates, via sequential instrumental neutron activation analysis. The rare earth element abundance patterns and the trace element abundance patterns of this achondritic meteorite are discussed. A two-stage crystal-liquid fractionation model with source material containing olivine, orthopyroxene, and clinopyroxine is presented for the genesis of Angra dos Reis. Multilinear regression analysis was used to estimate possible composition and properties of the parent magmas. Angra dos Reis was compared with other achondrites, cumulate eucrites and nakhlites in particular. It is thought that the unique Angra dos Reis could not be related to those achondrites by crystal-liquid fractionation of the same parent body.

Ma, M.-S.↗

NASA NTRS1977

Plagioclase flotation and lunar crust formation

Anorthitic plagioclase floats in liquids parental to the lunar highlands crust. The plagioclase enrichment that is characteristic of lunar highlands rocks can be the result of plagioclase flotation. Such rocks would form a gravitationally stable upper crust on their parental magma.

Walker, D.↗

NASA NTRS1977

Lunar igneous rocks and the nature of the lunar interior

Lunar igneous rocks, properly interpreted, can give useful information about mineral assemblages and mineral chemistry as a function of depth in the lunar interior. Though intensely brecciated, terra rocks reveal, in their chemistry, evidence for a magmatic history. Partial melting of feldspathic lunar crustal material occurred in the interval 4.6 to 3.9 Gy. Melting of ilmenite-bearing cumulates at depths near 100 km produced parent magmas for Apollo 11 and 17 titaniferous mare basalts in the interval 3.8 to 3.6 Gy. Melting of ilmenite-free olivine pyroxenites (also cumulates?) at depths greater than 200 km produced low-titanium mare basalts in the interval 3.4 to 3.1 Gy. No younger igneous rocks have yet been recognized among the lunar samples and present-day melting seems to be limited to depths greater than 1000 km.

Hays, J. F.↗

NASA NTRS1977

To the problem about the origin of lunar maria and continents (Moessbauer investigations)

A comparative study of Mossbauer spectra of regolith returned by the Luna 16 and Luna 20 spacecraft is presented. The Mossbauer spectra of the mare regolith differs significantly for all fractions from the spectra for the same fractions of continental regolith. The total quantity of iron is 1.85 times greater in the mare regolith. There is 2.4 times less olivine in the mare region than in the continental region. The pyroxene component of the mare regolith is less homogeneous in composition (contains more augite and glass) and is present in larger quantities. Ilmenite was found only in the mare regolith. In the continental region, the predominant titanium-containing phase is ulvospinel. The mare regolith contains more metallic iron, which is more finely dispersed and contains less nickel. Troilite is found in the maria region. Based on these differences, it is concluded that the formation of continental rocks occurred at an earlier stage of crystallization from the melt and at higher temperatures and higher partial pressures of oxygen. The mare basalts crystallized from a more reduced magma, apparently in a later process.

Malysheva, T. V.↗

NASA NTRS1978

Lunar breccias, petrology, and earth planetary structure

Topics covered include: (1) petrologic studies of poikiloblastic textured rocks; (2) petrology of aluminous mare basalts in breccia 14063; (3) petrology of Apollo 15 breccia 15459; (4) high-alumina mare basalts; (5) some petrological aspects of imbrium stratigraphy; (6) petrology of lunar rocks and implication to lunar evolution; (7) the crystallization trends of spinels in Tertiary basalts from Rhum and Muck and their petrogenetic significance; (8) the geology and evolution of the Cayman Trench; (9) The petrochemistry of igneous rocks from the Cayman Trench and the Captains Bay Pluton, Unalaska Island and their relation to tectonic processes at plate margins; and (10) the oxide and silicate mineral chemistry of a Kimberlite from the Premier Mine with implications for the evolution of kimberlitic magma.

Ridley, W. I.↗