TY - JOUR
T1 - Feldspathic clasts in Yamato-86032
T2 - Remnants of the lunar crust with implications for its formation and impact history
AU - Nyquist, L.
AU - Bogard, D.
AU - Yamaguchi, A.
AU - Shih, C. Y.
AU - Karouji, Y.
AU - Ebihara, M.
AU - Reese, Y.
AU - Garrison, D.
AU - McKay, G.
AU - Takeda, H.
N1 - Funding Information:
This research was supported by a Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research from the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology, Japan, No. 12740300 (A.Y.) and by NIPR Research Project Funds, P-8 (Evolution of the early Solar System materials). Research at the Johnson Space Center was supported by NASA RTOP 344-31 to L. Nyquist, D. Bogard, and G. McKay. We thank H. Kojima for discussion and the sample preparation of Y-86032. Thoughtful and detailed reviews by R. Korotev, Y. Ikeda, and an anonymous reviewer as well as editorial handling by G. Herzog are appreciated. Finally, this paper is dedicated to the memory of Larry Haskin, for his many examples of leadership in lunar and planetary science, but most of all for the intellectual honesty that he so consistently insisted upon.
PY - 2006/12/15
Y1 - 2006/12/15
N2 - Low concentrations of Th and Fe in the Yamato (Y)-86032 bulk meteorite support earlier suggestions that Y-86032 comes from a region of the moon far distant from the Procellarum KREEP Terrain (PKT), probably from the lunar farside. 39Ar-40Ar, Rb-Sr, Sm-Nd, and Sm-isotopic studies characterize the chronology of Y-86032 and its precursors in the mega regolith. One of the rock types present in a light gray breccia lithology is an anorthosite characterized by plagioclase with An ∼93, i.e., more sodic than lunar FANs, but with very low 87Rb/86Sr and 87Sr/86Sr similar to those of FANs. (FAN stands for Ferroan Anorthosite). This "An93 anorthosite" has Nd-isotopic systematics similar to those of nearside norites. A FAN-like "An97 anorthosite" is present in a second light-colored feldspathic breccia clast and has a more negative εNd value consistent with residence in a LREE-enriched environment as would be provided by an early plagioclase flotation crust on the Lunar Magma Ocean (LMO). This result contrasts with generally positive values of εNd for Apollo 16 FANs suggesting the possibility of assymetric development of the LMO. Other possible explanations for the dichotomy in εNd values are advanced in the text. The Y-86032 protolith formed at least 4.43 ± 0.03 Ga ago as determined from a Sm-Nd isochron for mineral fragments from the breccia clast composed predominantly of An93 anorthosite and a second clast of more varied composition. We interpret the mineral fragments as being predominatly from a cogenetic rock suite. An 39Ar-40Ar age of 4.36-4.41 ± 0.035 Ga for a third clast composed predominantly of An97 anorthosite supports an old age for the protolith. Initial 143Nd/144Nd in that clast was -0.64 ± 0.13 ε-units below 143Nd/144Nd in reservoirs having chondritic Sm/Nd ratios, consistent with prior fractionation of mafic cumulates from the LMO. A maximum in the 39Ar-40Ar age spectrum of 4.23 ± 0.03 Ga for a second sample of the same feldspathic breccia clast probably reflects some diffusive 40Ar loss. Lack of solar wind and lunar atmosphere implanted Ar in the light gray breccia clast allows determination of an 39Ar/40Ar age of 4.10 ± 0.02 Ga, which is interpreted as the time of initial brecciation of this litholgy. After correction for implanted lunar atmosphere 40Ar, impact melt and dark regolith clasts give Ar ages of 3.8 ± 0.1 Ga implying melt formation and final breccia assembly ∼3.8 Ga ago. Some breccia lithologies were exposed to thermal neutron fluences of ∼2 × 1015 n/cm2, only about 1% of the fluence experienced by some other lunar highlands meteorites. Other lithologies experienced neutron fluences of ∼1 × 1015 n/cm2. Thus, Y-86032 spent most of the time following final brecciation deeply buried in the megaregolith. The neutron fluence data are consistent with cosmogenic 38Arcos cosmic ray exposure ages of ∼10 Ma. Variations among differing lithologies in the amount of several regolith exposure indicators, including cosmogenic noble gas abundances, neutron capture induced variations in Sm isotopic abundances, and Ir contents, are consistent with a period of early (>∼3.8 Ga ago) lunar regolith exposure, subsequent deep burial at >∼5 m depth, and ejection from the moon ∼7-10 Ma ago.
AB - Low concentrations of Th and Fe in the Yamato (Y)-86032 bulk meteorite support earlier suggestions that Y-86032 comes from a region of the moon far distant from the Procellarum KREEP Terrain (PKT), probably from the lunar farside. 39Ar-40Ar, Rb-Sr, Sm-Nd, and Sm-isotopic studies characterize the chronology of Y-86032 and its precursors in the mega regolith. One of the rock types present in a light gray breccia lithology is an anorthosite characterized by plagioclase with An ∼93, i.e., more sodic than lunar FANs, but with very low 87Rb/86Sr and 87Sr/86Sr similar to those of FANs. (FAN stands for Ferroan Anorthosite). This "An93 anorthosite" has Nd-isotopic systematics similar to those of nearside norites. A FAN-like "An97 anorthosite" is present in a second light-colored feldspathic breccia clast and has a more negative εNd value consistent with residence in a LREE-enriched environment as would be provided by an early plagioclase flotation crust on the Lunar Magma Ocean (LMO). This result contrasts with generally positive values of εNd for Apollo 16 FANs suggesting the possibility of assymetric development of the LMO. Other possible explanations for the dichotomy in εNd values are advanced in the text. The Y-86032 protolith formed at least 4.43 ± 0.03 Ga ago as determined from a Sm-Nd isochron for mineral fragments from the breccia clast composed predominantly of An93 anorthosite and a second clast of more varied composition. We interpret the mineral fragments as being predominatly from a cogenetic rock suite. An 39Ar-40Ar age of 4.36-4.41 ± 0.035 Ga for a third clast composed predominantly of An97 anorthosite supports an old age for the protolith. Initial 143Nd/144Nd in that clast was -0.64 ± 0.13 ε-units below 143Nd/144Nd in reservoirs having chondritic Sm/Nd ratios, consistent with prior fractionation of mafic cumulates from the LMO. A maximum in the 39Ar-40Ar age spectrum of 4.23 ± 0.03 Ga for a second sample of the same feldspathic breccia clast probably reflects some diffusive 40Ar loss. Lack of solar wind and lunar atmosphere implanted Ar in the light gray breccia clast allows determination of an 39Ar/40Ar age of 4.10 ± 0.02 Ga, which is interpreted as the time of initial brecciation of this litholgy. After correction for implanted lunar atmosphere 40Ar, impact melt and dark regolith clasts give Ar ages of 3.8 ± 0.1 Ga implying melt formation and final breccia assembly ∼3.8 Ga ago. Some breccia lithologies were exposed to thermal neutron fluences of ∼2 × 1015 n/cm2, only about 1% of the fluence experienced by some other lunar highlands meteorites. Other lithologies experienced neutron fluences of ∼1 × 1015 n/cm2. Thus, Y-86032 spent most of the time following final brecciation deeply buried in the megaregolith. The neutron fluence data are consistent with cosmogenic 38Arcos cosmic ray exposure ages of ∼10 Ma. Variations among differing lithologies in the amount of several regolith exposure indicators, including cosmogenic noble gas abundances, neutron capture induced variations in Sm isotopic abundances, and Ir contents, are consistent with a period of early (>∼3.8 Ga ago) lunar regolith exposure, subsequent deep burial at >∼5 m depth, and ejection from the moon ∼7-10 Ma ago.
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U2 - 10.1016/j.gca.2006.07.042
DO - 10.1016/j.gca.2006.07.042
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:33845478389
SN - 0016-7037
VL - 70
SP - 5990
EP - 6015
JO - Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta
JF - Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta
IS - 24
ER -