Rb-Sr study of a lunar dunite and evidence for early lunar differentiatesAn Rb-Sr study of Boulder 3 from Station 2 sampled during the Apollo 17 mission is reported. The investigated boulder is a metaclastic rock, inferred to have come from the South Massif, and contains a variety of lithic clasts. Since the rock type may be critical in understanding lunar differentiation processes, an extensive investigation was carried out of the dunite clast and other clasts as well as of the fine-grained matrix. The investigation had the purpose to define the age of crystallization of the dunite and to determine the extent to which later metamorphism of the host rock may have effected the isotopic systematics of this clast. The isochron determined yielded an age of 4.55 plus or minus 0.10 AE for the dunite. This result demonstrates that differentiation began close to the time of formation of the moon and that relics of this process are preserved.
Document ID
19780062777
Acquisition Source
Legacy CDMS
Document Type
Conference Proceedings
Authors
Papanastassiou, D. A. (California Inst. of Tech. Pasadena, CA, United States)
Wasserburg, G. J. (California Institute of Technology Pasadena, Calif., United States)