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Science 9 October 1970:
Vol. 170. no. 3954, pp. 161 - 162
DOI: 10.1126/science.170.3954.161
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Articles

Potassium-Argon Ages of Lunar Rocks from Mare Tranquillitatis and Oceanus Procellarum

O. A. Schaeffer 1, J. G. Funkhouser 1, D. D. Bogard 2, and J. Zähringer 3

1 Department of Earth and Space Sciences, State University of New York, Stony Brook 11790
2 National Aeronautics and Space Administration Manned Spacecraft Center, Houston, Texas 77085
3 Max Planck Institut für Kernphysik, Heidelberg, Germany

Crystalline rocks from Mare Tranquillitatis have yielded potassium-argon dates as old as 3.8 x 109 years. Crystalline rocks from Oceanus Procellarum give potassium-argon ages as old as 2.8 x 109 years. Evidently the maria are ancient features of the moon and were not formed contemporaneously, a conclusion that also has been verified by other methods. The potassium-argon ages of rocks from Oceanus Procellarum show much more loss of argon than the rocks from Mare Tranquillitatis, an indication that the rocks at Oceanus Procellarum have experienced more severe shock effects or longer cooling rates.


THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
Age of a Lunar Anorthosite.
L. Husain, L. Husain, O. A. Schaeffer, and J. F. Sutter (1972)
Science 175, 428-430
   Abstract »    PDF »
Ages of Crystalline Rocks from Fra Mauro.
L. Husain, L. Husain, J. F. Sutter, and O. A. Schaeffer (1971)
Science 173, 1235-1236
   Abstract »    PDF »


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