Potential Sample Sites for South Pole–aitken Basin Impact Melt within the Schrödinger Basin
نویسندگان
چکیده
anomaly that coincides with the SPA interioris exposed in the eastern and southeastern portion of this basin. This FeOenriched signature is interpreted to represent SPA-derived material, and samples collected within this region may be analyzed to determine the age of the oldest basin preserved on the Moon. Red and pink pixels indicate the presence of pyroxene and plagioclase [10], a signature that is consistent with quenched SPA impact melt [4]. Fig. 2: Fraction of SPA impact melt as a function of FeO content. As FeO-depleted material outside SPA is redistributed within SPA in the form of ejecta of younger craters, the apparent FeO content decreases. This approach allows us to estimate the amount of SPA-derived material preserved at the surface. POTENTIAL SAMPLE SITES FOR SOUTH POLE–AITKEN BASIN IMPACT MELT WITHIN THE SCHRÖDINGER BASIN. Debra Hurwitz and David A. Kring; Center for Lunar Science and Exploration, NASA Solar System Exploration Research Virtual Institute, Lunar and Planetary Institute, 3600 Bay Area Blvd., Houston, TX, 77058, ([email protected])
منابع مشابه
How Much Melt Breccia Can Be Found in South Pole-aitken Basin?
Introduction: The South Pole-Aitken (SPA) Basin is the largest, oldest basin on the Moon. The extreme size of the basin, ≤2,500 km in diameter and a present depth of up to 13km [1,2], suggests that much of the upper crust would have been excavated during the formation/impact event, exposing the lower crust or upper mantle. Also, a large volume of impact melt breccia containing extensive lower c...
متن کاملConnecting Lunar Meteorite Dhofar 961 to the South Pole Aitken Basin through Lunar Prospector Gamma-ray Data
Introduction: Lunar meteorite Dhofar 961, a complex, lithic-clast-rich impact breccia [1,2], was called out by [3-6] as a candidate for an origin in the South Pole – Aitken (SPA) Basin region of the Moon (the SPA Terrane) on the basis of its relatively mafic, but nonmare lithologic and major-element chemical composition. It also has an incompatible-element signature that differs from the KREEP-...
متن کاملImpact melt differentiation in the South Pole-Aitken basin_ Some observations and speculations
The stratigraphy of the South-Pole Aitken basin (SPA) interior is consistent with that of a massive impact melt sheet that differentiated to form cumulates. Spectroscopic and geophysical constraints on the stratigraphy of SPA suggest a 12.5 km thick layer of norite above ultramafic pyroxenite and dunite layers. A similar stratigraphy is produced from differentiation by crystal settling of a 50 ...
متن کاملSurviving the heavy bombardment: Ancient material at the surface of South Pole-Aitken Basin
[1] The oldest, deepest, and largest basin recognized on the lunar surface is the South Pole-Aitken (SPA) basin. In the time since its formation, several processes have modified the original interior of the basin, including the introduction of foreign material by impact basins during the period of heavy bombardment. These later basins redistributed material ballistically across the lunar surfac...
متن کاملSouth Pole-aitken Basin: Geology, Basin Floor, and Unit Compositions
At 2600 km diameter, the South Pole-Aitken (SPA) basin is the largest on the Moon and has profoundly influenced lunar crustal configuration and subsequent evolution [1-4]. SPA is significant for two principal reasons: 1) its immense size suggests that it has excavated most or all of the lunar crust at its target site, thus giving us a window into the very deep lunar interior; 2) because it is t...
متن کامل