ALBERT

Description: Apatite grains in lunar mare basalts contain hydrogen that ranges in D/H ratio by more than a factor of two. For most of these basalts, the D/H ratios in their apatite grains decrease with measures of the host basalts’ time spent at elevated temperature, specifically the Fe-Mg homogenization of their pyroxenes. Most basalts with homogeneous pyroxenes (i.e., with constant Fe/Mg ratio) have apatite grains with low D/H (D –100), whereas most basalts with heterogeneous pyroxenes (i.e., varying or zoned Fe/Mg) have apatite with high D/H (D up to ~ +1100). This relationship suggests that low D/H values were acquired during thermal processing, i.e., during Fe-Mg chemical equilibration, during or after emplacement. This light hydrogen is likely derived from solar wind implanted into the lunar regolith (with D from –125 to –800), and could enter basalts either by assimilation of regolith or by vapor transport from regolith heated by the flow. If a basalt could not interact with regolith rich in solar wind (e.g., it was emplaced onto other fresh basalts), its apatite could retain a magmatic D/H signature. The high D/H component (in the apatites of unequilibrated basalts) is most reasonably that indigenous magmatic hydrogen, i.e., representing hydrogen in the basalt’s source mantles, or magmatic hydrogen that was residual after partial degassing of H 2 .

Description: Among the lunar samples that were returned by the Apollo missions are many cumulate plutonic rocks with high Mg# [molar Mg/(Mg+Fe) in %] and abundances of KREEP elements (potassium, rare earth elements, phosphorus, U, Th, etc.) that imply KREEP-rich parental magmas. These rocks, collectively called the magnesian suite, are nearly absent from sampling sites distant from Imbrium basin ejecta, including those of lunar highlands meteorites. This absence has significant implications for the early differentiation of the Moon and its distribution of heat-producing elements (K, Th, U). Here, we analyze a unique fragment of basalt with the mineralogy and mineral chemistry of a magnesian suite rock, in the lunar highlands meteorite Allan Hills (ALH) A81005. In thin section, the fragment is 700 x 300 μm, and has a sub-ophitic texture with olivine phenocrysts, euhedral plagioclase grains (An 97-70 ),and interstitial pyroxenes. Its minerals are chemically equilibrated. Olivine has Fe/Mn ~ 70 (consistent with a lunar origin), and Mg# ~80, which is consistent with rocks of the magnesian suite and far higher than in mare basalts. It has a rich suite of minor minerals: fluorapatite, ilmenite, Zr-armalcolite, chromite, troilite, silica, and Fe metal (Ni = 3.8%, Co = 0.17%). The metal is comparable to that in chondrite meteorites, which suggests that the fragment is from an impact melt. The fragment itself is not a piece of magnesian suite rock (which are plutonic), but its mineralogy and mineral chemistry suggest that its protolith (which was melted by impact) was related to the magnesian suite. However, the fragment’s mineral chemistry and minor minerals are not identical to those of known magnesian suite rocks, suggesting that the suite may be more varied than apparent in the Apollo samples. Although ALHA81005 is from the lunar highlands (and likely from the farside), Clast U need not have formed in the highlands. It could have formed in an impact melt pool on the nearside and been transported by meteoroid impact. Lunar highlands meteorites should be searched for rock fragments related to the magnesian-suite rocks, but the fragments are rare and may have mineral compositions similar to some meteoritic (impactor) materials.

Description: Meteorite Northwest Africa (NWA) 6963 was classified as a basaltic shergottite based on mineralogy, but here we show that it is a gabbroic rock with a quartz-alkali feldspar intergrowth that represents a late-stage granitic melt. NWA 6963 contains clinopyroxene and maskelynite grains up to 5 mm in length, with minor ferroan olivine, spinel, ilmenite, merrillite, apatite, Fe-sulfides, and high-Si glass. NWA 6963 also contains areas of quartz and alkali-feldspar intergrowths up to ~1 mm in size. Based on mineral abundances and textural analysis, we suggest that NWA 6963 is an intrusive rock similar to a terrestrial gabbro. Infiltration of the martian crust by young gabbroic bodies would suggest that estimates of crustal composition, density, and thickness based on the surface chemistry alone would be problematic and the martian crust may be even more heterogenous than is seen from orbit alone. Investigations of crater walls, where intrusive crustal rocks would be exposed, are needed to discover the launch sites of the shergottites and the full heterogeneity of the martian crust.

Description: Mg-Al spinel is rare in lunar rocks (Apollo and meteorite collections), and occurs mostly in troctolites and troctolitic cataclastites. Recently, a new lunar lithology, rich in spinel and plagioclase, and lacking abundant olivine and pyroxene, was recognized in visible to near-infrared (VNIR) reflectance spectra by the Moon Mineralogy Mapper (M 3 ) instrument on the Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft at the Moscoviense basin. These outcrop-scale areas are inferred to contain 20–30% Mg-Al spinel. Possible explanations for the petrogenesis of spinel-bearing and spinel-rich lithology(s) range from low-pressure near-surface crystallization to a deep-seated origin in the lower lunar crust or upper mantle. Here, we describe 1-bar crystallization experiments conducted on rock compositions rich in olivine and plagioclase that crystallize spinel. This would be equivalent to impact-melting, which is moderately common among lunar plutonic rocks and granulites. To explore possible precursor materials and the maximum amount of spinel that could be crystallized, a lunar troctolitic composition similar to Apollo pink spinel troctolite 65785, and a composition similar to ALHA81005 as analog to the source region of this meteorite have been chosen. The crystallization experiments on the composition of AHLA 81005 did not yield any spinel; experiments on the composition similar to Apollo 65785 crystallized a maximum of ~8 wt% spinel, much less than the suggested 20–30% spinel of the new lithology detected by M 3 . However, our VNIR spectral reflectance analyses of the experimental run products indicate that the spinel composition of the experimental run products not only appears to be similar to the composition of the spinel lithology detected by M 3 (characteristics of the spinel absorption), but also that the modal abundances of coexisting phases (e.g., mafic glass) influence the spectral reflectance properties. Thus, the spinel-rich deposits detected by M 3 might not be as spinel-rich as previously thought and could contain as little as 4–5 wt% spinel. However, the effect of space weathering on spinel is unknown and could significantly weaken its 2 μm absorptions. If this occurs, weathered lunar rocks could contain more spinel than a comparison with our unweathered experimental charges would suggest.

Description: In the last decade, it has been recognized that the Moon contains significant proportions of volatile elements (H, F, Cl), and that they are transported through the lunar crust and across its surface. Here, we document a significant segment of that volatile cycle in lunar granulite breccia 79215: impact-induced remobilization of volatiles, and vapor-phase transport with extreme elemental fractionation. 79215 contains ~1% volume of fluorapatite, Ca 5 (PO 4 ) 3 (F,Cl,OH), in crystals to 1 mm long, which is reflected in its analyzed abundances of F, Cl, and P. The apatite has a molar F/Cl ratio of ~10, and contains only 25 ppm OH and low abundances of the rare earth elements (REE). The chlorine in the apatite is isotopically heavy, at 37 Cl = +32.7 ± 1.6. Hydrogen in the apatite is heavy at D = +1060 ± 180; much of that D came from spallogenic nuclear reactions, and the original D was lower, between +350 and +700. Unlike other P-rich lunar rocks (e.g., 65015), 79215 lacks abundant K and REE, and other igneous incompatible elements characteristic of the lunar KREEP component. Here, we show that the P and halogens in 79215 were added to an otherwise "normal" granulite by vapor-phase metasomatism, similar to rock alteration by fumarolic exhalations as observed on Earth. The ultimate source of the P and halogens was most likely KREEP, it being the richest reservoir of P on the Moon, and 79215 having H and Cl isotopic compositions consistent with KREEP. A KREEP-rich rock was heated and devolatilized by an impact event. This vapor was fractionated by interaction with solid phases, including merrillite (a volatile-free phosphate mineral), a Fe-Ti oxide, and a Zr-bearing phase. These solids removed REE, Th, Zr, Hf, etc., from the vapor, and allowed the vapor to transport primarily P, F, and Cl, with lesser proportions of Ba and U into 79215. Vapor-deposited crystals of apatite (to 30 μm) are known in some lunar regolith samples, but lunar vapor has not (before this) been implicated in significant mass transfer. It seems unlikely, however, that phosphate-halogen metasomatism is related to the high-Th/Sm abundance ratios of this and other lunar magnesian granulites. The metasomatism of 79215 emphasizes the importance of impact heating in the lunar volatile cycle, both in mobilizing volatile components into vapor and in generating strong elemental fractionations.