Global petrologic variations on the moon: a ternary-diagram approach.
A ternary-diagram approach for determination of global petrologic variations on the lunar surface is presented that incorporates valuable improvements in our previous method of using geochemical variation diagrams. Our results are as follows: 1) the highlands contain large areas of relatively pure ferroan anorthosite; 2) the average composition of the upper lunar crust is represented by an 'anorthositic gabbro' composition; 3) KREEP/Mg-suite rocks are a minor fraction of the upper lunar crust; 4) within the farside highlands, areas of KREEP/Mg-suite rocks coincide mostly with areas of crustal thinning; 5) portions of the E limb and farside highlands have considerable amounts of a mafic, chondritic Th/Ti component (like mare basalt) whose occurrences coincide with mapped concentrations of light plains that display dark-halo craters.- from Authors
Citation Information
Publication Year | 1987 |
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Title | Global petrologic variations on the moon: a ternary-diagram approach. |
Authors | P. A. Davis, P. D. Spudis |
Publication Type | Article |
Publication Subtype | Journal Article |
Series Title | Journal of Geophysical Research |
Index ID | 70014211 |
Record Source | USGS Publications Warehouse |