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Petrology of some lithic fragments from Luna 20.Microscopic and electron microprobe studies were made of polished thin sections of part of a 30-mg sample of 250- to 500-micron lunar soil returned by Luna 20 from a point between Mare Fecunditatis and Mare Crisium. Very fine-grained lithic (crystalline) rock fragments, composing about one-fifth of the total sample, have mineralogical compositions equivalent to various types of gabbro, anorthositic gabbro, gabbroic anorthosite, and troctolite, with minor basalt. The textures now observed in these fragments are in large part metamorphic. Twenty-seven electron microprobe analyses of minerals from these fragments are presented, including olivine, plagioclase, pyroxene, spinel, nickel-iron, and a Zr-Ti-REE mineral possibly similar to 'phase B' of Lovering and Wark (1971). Analyses of seven melt inclusions and 28 defocused beam analyses of lithic fragments are also given. Some of the fragments contain 'gas' inclusions which, along with the fine grain size, are believed to indicate final crystallization under low pressure near surface conditions.
Document ID
19730043529
Acquisition Source
Legacy CDMS
Document Type
Reprint (Version printed in journal)
Authors
Roedder, E.
(U.S. Geological Survey Washington, D.C., United States)
Weiblen, P. W.
(Minnesota, University Minneapolis, Minn., United States)
Date Acquired
August 7, 2013
Publication Date
April 1, 1973
Subject Category
Space Sciences
Accession Number
73A28331
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Other

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