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Abstract
The Moon has a magmatic and thermal history that is distinct from that of the terrestrial planets1. Radioisotope dating of lunar samples suggests that most lunar basaltic magmatism ceased by around 2.9-2.8 billion years ago (Ga)2,3, although younger basalts between 3 Ga and 1 Ga have been suggested by crater-counting chronology, which has large uncertainties owing to the lack of returned samples for calibration4,5. Here we report a precise lead-lead age of 2,030 ± 4 million years ago for basalt clasts returned by the Chang'e-5 mission, and a 238U/204Pb ratio (µ value)6 of about 680 for a source that evolved through two stages of differentiation. This is the youngest crystallization age reported so far for lunar basalts by radiometric dating, extending the duration of lunar volcanism by approximately 800-900 million years. The µ value of the Chang'e-5 basalt mantle source is within the range of low-titanium and high-titanium basalts from Apollo sites (µ value of about 300-1,000), but notably lower than those of potassium, rare-earth elements and phosphorus (KREEP) and high-aluminium basalts7 (µ value of about 2,600-3,700), indicating that the Chang'e-5 basalts were produced by melting of a KREEP-poor source. This age provides a pivotal calibration point for crater-counting chronology in the inner Solar System and provides insight on the volcanic and thermal history of the Moon.
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Miljković K, Wieczorek MA, Collins GS, Laneuville M, Neumann GA, Melosh HJ, Solomon SC, Phillips RJ, Smith DE, Zuber MT. Asymmetric Distribution of Lunar Impact Basins Caused by Variations in Target Properties. Science 2013; 342:724-6. [DOI: 10.1126/science.1243224] [Citation(s) in RCA: 77] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/02/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Katarina Miljković
- Institut de Physique du Globe de Paris, Sorbonne Paris Cité, Université Paris Diderot, Case 7011, Lamarck A, 5, 35 rue Hélène Brion, 75205 Paris cedex 13, France
| | - Mark A. Wieczorek
- Institut de Physique du Globe de Paris, Sorbonne Paris Cité, Université Paris Diderot, Case 7011, Lamarck A, 5, 35 rue Hélène Brion, 75205 Paris cedex 13, France
| | - Gareth S. Collins
- Department of Earth Sciences and Engineering, Imperial College London, South Kensington Campus, London SW7 2AZ, UK
| | - Matthieu Laneuville
- Institut de Physique du Globe de Paris, Sorbonne Paris Cité, Université Paris Diderot, Case 7011, Lamarck A, 5, 35 rue Hélène Brion, 75205 Paris cedex 13, France
| | - Gregory A. Neumann
- Solar System Exploration Division, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD 20771, USA
| | - H. Jay Melosh
- Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN 47907, USA
| | - Sean C. Solomon
- Department of Terrestrial Magnetism, Carnegie Institution of Washington, Washington, DC 20015, USA
- Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, Columbia University, Palisades, NY 10964, USA
| | - Roger J. Phillips
- Planetary Science Directorate, Southwest Research Institute, Boulder, CO 80302, USA
| | - David E. Smith
- Department of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA
| | - Maria T. Zuber
- Department of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA
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Borg LE, Shearer CK, Asmerom Y, Papike JJ. Prolonged KREEP magmatism on the Moon indicated by the youngest dated lunar igneous rock. Nature 2004; 432:209-11. [PMID: 15538366 DOI: 10.1038/nature03070] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/14/2004] [Accepted: 09/28/2004] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
Abstract
Primordial solidification of the Moon (or its uppermost layer) resulted in the formation of a variety of rock types that subsequently melted and mixed to produce the compositional diversity observed in the lunar sample suite. The initial rocks to crystallize from this Moon-wide molten layer (the magma ocean) contained olivine and pyroxene and were compositionally less evolved than the plagioclase-rich rocks that followed. The last stage of crystallization, representing the last few per cent of the magma ocean, produced materials that are strongly enriched in incompatible elements including potassium (K), the rare earth elements (REE) and phosphorus (P)--termed KREEP. The decay of radioactive elements in KREEP, such as uranium and thorium, is generally thought to provide the thermal energy necessary for more recent lunar magmatism. The ages of KREEP-rich samples are, however, confined to the earliest periods of lunar magmatism between 3.8 and 4.6 billion years (Gyr) ago, providing no physical evidence that KREEP is directly involved in more recent lunar magmatism. But here we present evidence that KREEP magmatism extended for an additional 1 Gyr, based on analyses of the youngest dated lunar sample.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lars E Borg
- Institute of Meteoritics, Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, New Mexico 87131, USA.
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