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Published Online November 24, 2005
Science DOI: 10.1126/science.1118842

Reports

Submitted on August 15, 2005
Accepted on November 10, 2005

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

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

1 Zentrallabor für Geochronologie, Institut für Mineralogie, Corrensstr. 24, D-48149 Münster, Germany; Departement für Erdwissenschaften, Institut für Isotopengeologie und Mineralische Rohstoffe, Sonneggstr. 5, ETH Zentrum NO, CH-8092 Zürich, Switzerland.
2 Institut für Mineralogie und Geochemie, Zülpicherstr. 49b, D-50674 Köln, Germany.
3 Zentrallabor für Geochronologie, Institut für Mineralogie, Corrensstr. 24, D-48149 Münster, Germany.
4 Departement für Erdwissenschaften, Institut für Isotopengeologie und Mineralische Rohstoffe, Sonneggstr. 5, ETH Zentrum NO, CH-8092 Zürich, Switzerland; Department of Earth Sciences, Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3PR, United Kingdom.

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

The use of 182Hf–182W chronometry to date the Moon is hampered by cosmogenic 182W–production mainly by neutron-capture of 181Ta at the lunar surface. We report W 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.


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