Cosmic ray track production rates in lunar materials

A particularly favorable rock from the Apollo 16 mission (68815) has been used to derive an 'empirical track production energy spectrum' suitable for calculating track exposure ages from galactic cosmic rays in lunar materials. The spectrum is a long term average for the last 2m.y. and is independent of assumptions about the detailed nature of track registration in lunar minerals. The spectrum is close to that previously estimated from measurements of contemporary cosmic rays and does not support the recent suggestion that track exposure ages should be revised upwards.