Chemistry and petrology of Apollo 17 highland coarse fines - Plutonic and melt rocksA suite of 21 fragments from the Apollo 17 coarse-fines consists of ferroan anorthosites, anorthositic gabbros, granulitic and regolith breccias, and impact melts. These samples belong to known petrographic and chemical groups. Three ferroan anorthosites were found, including one which appears to be the lowest in REE (La = 0.60X) and probably the purest of the Apollo 17 anorthosites identified thus far. The ferroan suite is a more important component at the Apollo 17 site than previously recognized. The Apollo 17 melt rocks are similar to other samples with LKFM and low-K KREEP compositions and show less diversity in trace elements (REE) than the Apollo 15 melt rocks. Apollo 17 melt rocks consist of aphanitic and poikilitic types that show some compositional variability with identical Ni/Ir, suggesting that either two distinct melt sheets formed by similar projectiles, or compositional heterogeneity within one melt sheet is possible.
Document ID
19890049122
Acquisition Source
Legacy CDMS
Document Type
Conference Paper
Authors
Laul, J. C. (Battelle Pacific Northwest Labs. Richland, WA, United States)
Gosselin, D. C. (Battelle Pacific Northwest Laboratories Richland, WA, United States)
Galbreath, K. C. (Battelle Pacific Northwest Labs. Richland, WA, United States)
Simon, S. B. (Battelle Pacific Northwest Labs. Richland, WA, United States)
Papike, J. J. (South Dakota School of Mines and Technology Rapid City, United States)