Note to users. If you're seeing this message, it means that your browser cannot find this page's style/presentation instructions -- or possibly that you are using a browser that does not support current Web standards. Find out more about why this message is appearing, and what you can do to make your experience of our site the best it can be.

Site Tools

  • AAAS
  • Subscribe
  • Feedback

Site Search

Search Advanced

Science 2 June 2006:
Vol. 312. no. 5778, pp. 1369 - 1372
DOI: 10.1126/science.1126114
Prev | Table of Contents | Next

Reports

Neodymium Isotope Evidence for a Chondritic Composition of the Moon

K. Rankenburg,1* A. D. Brandon,1 C. R. Neal2

Samarium-neodymium isotope data for six lunar basalts show that the bulk Moon has a 142Nd/144Nd ratio that is indistinguishable from that of chondritic meteorites but is 20 parts per million less than most samples from Earth. The Sm/Nd formation interval of the lunar mantle from these data is Formula million years after the onset of solar system condensation. Because both Earth and the Moon likely formed in the same region of the solar nebula, Earth should also have a chondritic bulk composition. In order to mass balance the Nd budget, these constraints require that a complementary reservoir with a lower 142Nd/144Nd value resides in Earth's mantle.

1 NASA Johnson Space Center, Mail Code KR, Houston, TX 77058, USA.
2 Department of Civil Engineering and Geological Sciences, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, IN 46556, USA.

* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: kai.rankenburg1{at}jsc.nasa.gov

Read the Full Text


THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
Coupled 142Nd-143Nd Isotopic Evidence for Hadean Mantle Dynamics.
V. C. Bennett, A. D. Brandon, and A. P. Nutman (2007)
Science 318, 1907-1910
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Chondrite Barium, Neodymium, and Samarium Isotopic Heterogeneity and Early Earth Differentiation.
R. W. Carlson, M. Boyet, and M. Horan (2007)
Science 316, 1175-1178
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Solar Nebula Heterogeneity in p-Process Samarium and Neodymium Isotopes.
R. Andreasen and M. Sharma (2006)
Science 314, 806-809
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Barium Isotopes in Chondritic Meteorites: Implications for Planetary Reservoir Models.
M. C. Ranen and S. B. Jacobsen (2006)
Science 314, 809-812
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »


ADVERTISEMENT
Click Me!

ADVERTISEMENT
Click Me!

To Advertise     Find Products

Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)