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Science 1 January 1982:
Vol. 215. no. 4528, pp. 59 - 61
DOI: 10.1126/science.215.4528.59
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Articles

Copernicus Crater Central Peak: Lunar Mountain of Unique Composition

CARLE M. PIETERS 1

1 Department of Geological Sciences, Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island 02912

Olivine is identified as the major mafic mineral in a central peak of Copernicus crater. Information on the mineral assemblages of such unsampled lunar surface material is provided by near infrared reflectance spectra (0.7 to 2.5 micrometers) obtained with Earth-based telescopes. The composition of the deep-seated material comprising the Copernicus central peak is unique among measured areas. Other lunar terra areas and the wall of Copernicus exhibit spectral characteristics of mineral assemblages comparable to the feldspathic breccias returned by the Apollo missions, with low-calcium orthopyroxene being the major mafic mineral.

Submitted on May 21, 1981
Revised on August 21, 1981


THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
Understanding the Lunar Surface and Space-Moon Interactions.
P. Lucey, R. L. Korotev, J. J. Gillis, L. A. Taylor, D. Lawrence, B. A. Campbell, R. Elphic, B. Feldman, L. L. Hood, D. Hunten, et al. (2006)
Reviews in Mineralogy and Geochemistry 60, 83-219
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E. P. Turtle and E. Pierazzo (2001)
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Copernicus: A Regional Probe of the Lunar Interior.
P. C. Pinet, P. C. Pinet, S. D. Chevrel, and P. Martin (1993)
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