Lu-Hf AND Sm-Nd EVOLUTION IN LUNAR MARE BASALTS.

Lu-Hf and Sm-Nd data for mare basalts combined with Rb-Sr and total REE data taken from the literature suggest that the mare basalts were derived by small ( less than equivalent to 10%) degrees of partial melting of cumulate sources, but that the magma ocean from which these sources formed was light REE and hf-enriched. Calculated source compositions range from lherzolite to olivine websterite. Nonmodal melting of small amounts of ilmenite ( less than equivalent to 3%) in the sources seems to be required by the Lu/Hf data. A comparison of the Hf and Nd isotopic characteristics between the mare basalts and terrestrial oceanic basalts reveals that the epsilon Hf/ epsilon Nd ratios in low-Ti mare basalts are much higher than in terrestrial ocean basalts.