Apollo 11 breccias and soils - Aluminous mare basalts or multi-component mixtures

This paper examines the chemistry of Apollo 11 welded breccias and soils and attempts to ascertain whether the compositional variations in these samples reflect the comminuted remains of an unsampled high alumina basalt, or whether they result from mixing of mare basalts with more aluminous highland components. The data show strong linear compositional trends that are not consistent with magmatic processes. Instead, they indicate two-component mixing involving high-K basalt and an already well-mixed soil component. This is consistent with impact mixing of soil with a high-K mare basalt unit that is stratigraphically above other mare basalt units.