Procrustean science - Indigenous siderophiles in the lunar highlands, according to Delano and RingwoodSeveral objections are raised to the contention of Delano and Ringwood (1978) that the siderophiles in the lunar highlands are mainly of indigenous rather than meteoritic origin. It is argued that the rejection of 29 pristine lunar rocks characterized by low siderophilic abundances, plutonic textures and high age on the supposition that they are impact melts is unjustified by petrographic evidence. It is further contended that the approach used by Delano and Ringwood leads to spurious excesses of Au, Ni and volatiles, which disappear when the highland composition is based on pristine lunar rocks rather than undercorrected breccias. Large, systematic depletions relative to terrestrial oceanic tholeiites are revealed by other derivations of abundances in lunar highland materials.
Document ID
19790055101
Acquisition Source
Legacy CDMS
Document Type
Conference Proceedings
Authors
Anders, E. (Chicago, University Chicago, Ill., United States)