Apollo 16 rocks - Classification and petrogenetic modelThe Apollo 16 rocks include cataclastic anorthosites, two varieties of unequilibrated breccia, two varieties of partly to fully equilibrated breccia, and a sequence of partially melted breccias. The latter, which dominate the Apollo 16 collection, include glass, divitrified glass, mesostasis-olivine-plagioclase rock, mesostasis-rich basalt, basalt, and poikilitic rocks. All sequence members contain vesicles and relics of plagioclase, olivine, pink spinel, and lithic fragments. Their equilibrated matrices define a series from glass, to a plagioclase-olivine-mesostasis assemblage displaying spherulitic and skeletal shaped crystals, through a plagioclase-pyroxene-olivine assemblage displaying euhedral shaped crystals. Such data suggest that the sequence lithologies were derived from breccias or soils that were partially melted in an impact event.
Document ID
19740040090
Acquisition Source
Legacy CDMS
Document Type
Conference Proceedings
Authors
Warner, J. L.
Phinney, W. C. (NASA Johnson Space Center Houston, Tex., United States)
Simonds, C. H. (Lunar Science Institute Houston, Tex., United States)