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Originally published in Science Express on 24 November 2005
Science 9 December 2005:
Vol. 310. no. 5754, pp. 1671 - 1674
DOI: 10.1126/science.1118842
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Reports

Hf-W Chronometry of Lunar Metals and the Age and Early Differentiation of the Moon

Thorsten Kleine,1,2* Herbert Palme,3 Klaus Mezger,1 Alex N. Halliday2,4

The use of hafnium-tungsten chronometry to date the Moon is hampered by cosmogenic tungsten-182 production mainly by neutron capture of tantalum-181 at the lunar surface. We report tungsten isotope data for lunar metals, which contain no 181Ta-derived cosmogenic 182W. The data reveal differences in indigenous 182W/184W of lunar mantle reservoirs, indicating crystallization of the lunar magma ocean 4.527 ± 0.010 billion years ago. This age is consistent with the giant impact hypothesis and defines the completion of the major stage of Earth's accretion.

1 Zentrallabor für Geochronologie, Institut für Mineralogie, Corrensstrasse 24, D-48149 Münster, Germany.
2 Departement für Erdwissenschaften, Institut für Isotopengeologie und Mineralische Rohstoffe, Sonneggstrasse 5, Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule (ETH) Zentrum NO, CH-8092 Zürich, Switzerland.
3 Institut für Geologie und Mineralogie, Universität zu Köln, Zülpicherstrasse 49b, D-50674 Köln, Germany.
4 Department of Earth Sciences, Oxford University, Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3PR, UK.

* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: kleine{at}erdw.ethz.ch

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