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Science 27 November 1970:
Vol. 170. no. 3961, pp. 969 - 974
DOI: 10.1126/science.170.3961.969
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Articles

Lunar Anorthosites: Rare-Earth and Other Elemental Abundances

Hiroshi Wakita 1 and Roman A. Schmitt 1

1 Department of Chemistry and Radiation Center, Oregon State University, Corvallis 97331

Elemental abundances of major (Ti, Al, Fe, and Ca), minor (Na, Mn, and Cr), and trace elements [14 rare-earth elements (REE), Y, In, Cd, Rb, Cs, Ba, Co, and Sc] in lunar anorthosites separated from Apollo 11 sample 10085 coarse fines have been determined by means of instrumental and radiochemical neutron activation analysis. The REE distribution pattern of lunar anorthosites, relative to ordinary chondrites, has a positive Eu anomaly. On the assumption that (i) the lunar composition is similar to that of ordinary chondritic meteorites low in total Fe (sim 13 percent); (ii) lunar anorthosites are derived from highland cratering events and are representative of the highlands; and (iii) the moon differentiated into olivine, hypersthene, and basaltic and anorthositic phases, and plagioclase crysstallization began after sim 93 percent solidification, then mass balance calculations yield sim 30-kilometer and sim 10-kilometer thicknesses for the lunar highlands for the melting and chemical differentiation of the entire moon and of the upper 200 kilometers, respectively. Corresponding thicknesses of the basaltic basement rocks were sim 5 kilometers and sim 2 kilometers, respectively. Alternatively, if the anorthosites of this study are representative of the highlands and the onset of plagioclase crystallization occurred after sim 50 percent solidification of the initially melted moon, calculations with REE and Ba partition coefficients suggest that the REE and Ba abundances in the primeval moon were similar to those observed in basaltic achondrites.


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