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The formation of the moonSupporting evidence for the fission hypothesis for the origin of the moon is offered. The maximum allowable amount of free iron now present in the moon would not suffice to extract the siderophiles from the lunar silicates with the observed efficiency. Hence extraction must have been done with a larger amount of iron, as in the mantle of the earth, of which the moon was once a part, according to the fission hypothesis. The fission hypothesis gives a good resolution of the tektite paradox. Tektites are chemically much like products of the mantle of the earth; but no physically possible way has been found to explain their production from the earth itself. Perhaps they are a product of late, deep-seated lunar volcanism. If so, the moon must have inside it some material with a strong resemblance to the earth's mantle.
Document ID
19740042900
Acquisition Source
Legacy CDMS
Document Type
Reprint (Version printed in journal)
Authors
O'Keefe, J. A., III
(NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Laboratory for Space Physics, Greenbelt, Md., United States)
Date Acquired
August 7, 2013
Publication Date
February 1, 1974
Subject Category
Space Sciences
Accession Number
74A25650
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Other

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