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.

Science 1 December 2000:
Vol. 290. no. 5497, pp. 1754 - 1756
DOI: 10.1126/science.290.5497.1754
Prev | Table of Contents | Next

Reports

Support for the Lunar Cataclysm Hypothesis from Lunar Meteorite Impact Melt Ages

B. A. Cohen,*dagger T. D. Swindle, D. A. Kring

Lunar meteorites represent a more random sampling of lunar material than the Apollo or Luna collections and, as such, lunar meteorite impact melt ages are the most important data in nearly 30 years with which to reexamine the lunar cataclysm hypothesis. Within the lunar meteorite breccias MAC 88105, QUE 93069, DaG 262, and DaG 400, seven to nine different impact events are represented with 40Ar-39Ar ages between 2.76 and 3.92 billion years ago (Ga). The lack of impact melt older than 3.92 Ga supports the concept of a short, intense period of bombardment in the Earth-moon system at ~3.9 Ga. This was an anomalous spike of impact activity on the otherwise declining impact- frequency curve.

The University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721, USA.
*   Present address: Department of Geological Sciences, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN 37996, USA.

dagger    To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: bcohen{at}utk.edu

Read the Full Text


THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
Impact-generated hydrothermal systems capable of forming phyllosilicates on Noachian Mars.
S. P. Schwenzer and D. A. Kring (2009)
Geology 37, 1091-1094
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
The Lunar Cataclysm: Reality or "Mythconception"?.
M. D. Norman (2009)
Elements 5, 23-28
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
The record of impact processes on the early Earth: A review of the first 2.5 billion years.
C. Koeberl (2006)
Geological Society of America Special Papers 405, 1-22
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
New Views of Lunar Geoscience: An Introduction and Overview.
H. Hiesinger and J. W. Head III (2006)
Reviews in Mineralogy and Geochemistry 60, 1-81
   Full Text »    PDF »
The impact rate on Earth.
P. A Bland (2005)
Phil Trans R Soc A 363, 2793-2810
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
The Origin of Planetary Impactors in the Inner Solar System.
R. G. Strom, R. Malhotra, T. Ito, F. Yoshida, and D. A. Kring (2005)
Science 309, 1847-1850
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Pinpointing the Source of a Lunar Meteorite: Implications for the Evolution of the Moon.
E. Gnos, B. A. Hofmann, A. Al-Kathiri, S. Lorenzetti, O. Eugster, M. J. Whitehouse, I. M. Villa, A. J. T. Jull, J. Eikenberg, B. Spettel, et al. (2004)
Science 305, 657-659
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Environmental Effects of Large Impacts on Mars.
T. L. Segura, O. B. Toon, A. Colaprete, and K. Zahnle (2002)
Science 298, 1977-1980
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
A cool early Earth.
J. W. Valley, W. H. Peck, E. M. King, and S. A. Wilde (2002)
Geology 30, 351-354
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Noble Gases in the Moon and Meteorites: Radiogenic Components and Early Volatile Chronologies.
T. D. Swindle (2002)
Reviews in Mineralogy and Geochemistry 47, 101-124
   Full Text »    PDF »
Geology: from an Earth to a planetary science in the twentieth century.
U. B. Marvin (2002)
Geological Society, London, Special Publications 192, 17-57
   Abstract »    PDF »
The enigma of the origin of life and its timing.
M. A. Line (2002)
Microbiology 148, 21-27
   Full Text »    PDF »
Archaean tectonics: a review, with illustrations from the Slave craton.
W. Bleeker (2002)
Geological Society, London, Special Publications 199, 151-181
   Abstract »    PDF »
The oldest rocks on Earth: time constraints and geological controversies.
B. S. Kamber, S. Moorbath, and M. J. Whitehouse (2001)
Geological Society, London, Special Publications 190, 177-203
   Abstract »    PDF »


To Advertise     Find Products

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