Bearing strength of lunar soil

Bearing load vs penetration curves have been measured on a 1.3 g sample of lunar soil from the scoop of the Surveyor 3 soil mechanics surface sampler, using a circular indentor 2 mm in diameter. Measurements were made in an Earth laboratory, in air. This sample provided a unique opportunity to evaluate earlier, remotely controlled, in-situ measurements of lunar surface bearing properties. Bearing capacity, measured at a penetration equal to the indentor diameter, varied from 0.02–0.04 N cm^–2 at bulk densities of 1.15 g cm^–3 to 30-100 N cm^–2 at 1.9 g cm^–3. Deformation was by compression directly below the indentor at bulk densities below 1.61 g cm^–3, by outward displacement at bulk densities over 1.62 g cm^–3. Preliminary comparison of in-situ remote measurements with those on returned material indicates good agreement if the lunar regolith at Surveyor 3 has a bulk density of 1.6 g cm^–3 at 2.5 cm. depth; definitive comparison awaits both better data on bulk density of the undisturbed lunar soil and additional mechanical-property measurements on returned material.     

A lunar soil evolution model

Comminution, agglutination, and replenishment processes in a lunar soil are modeled by a system of time dependent, linear differential equations. In the model a soil is subdivided into coarse particle, fine particle, and agglutinate fractions. The relative mass abundance of each component in a mature soil is found to be proportional to rates for the reworking processes. Evolution of the grain size distribution from a fresh ejecta blanket to a mature soil is described quantitatively in terms of the changing proportions of the three soil constituents. If size data is available for an immature soil and a mature soil of the same system, rates for the various processes can be calculated under certain simplifying assumptions.     

Boulder tracks and nature of lunar soil

Boulder tracks from 19 different locations on the Moon, observable in Lunar Orbiter photographs, have been examined. Measurements of the track width indicate that some of the boulders sank considerably deeper than others. It is suggested that lunar surface materials vary from place to place; the state of compaction (density of lunar soil) is probably one of the significant variables. Using bearing capacity theory, modified to be applicable to the rolling boulder problem by theoretical studies and extensive testing, the friction angle of the lunar soil was estimated. Most of the results were between 24 and 47 degrees with an arithmetic average of 37 degrees. These values suggest corresponding density variations of 1.25 to 2.00 g/cm³.     

Shear strength of lunar soil from oceanus procellarum

Soil from the scoop of Surveyor 3, returned to Earth by Apollo 12 astronauts, has been tested in a miniature shear box at five bulk densities, from 0.99 to 1.87 g cm^–3. Cohesion increased with bulk density from 3 × 10^–2 to 3 × 10^–1 N cm^–2; internal friction angle increased from 13° to 56°. Shear stress vs normal stress data fit a logarithmic relationship better than a linear one, at normal stresses of 3 × 10^–3 to 3 x 10⁰ N cm^–2. Results of these tests, in air, show no systematic differences from those for tests made elsewhere in vacuum and nitrogen. Results agree with those obtained in remotely controlled lunar surface operations with Surveyor 3 and other spacecraft provided that the bulk density was slightly underestimated for the on-surface measurements.Paper dedicated to Prof. Harold C. Urey on the occasion of his 80th birthday on 29 April 1973.This work represents one phase of research conducted at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, under Contract NAS 7-100.     

Anatomy of individual agglutinates from a lunar highland soil

Abstract— We report results of our investigation of the relationship between values of I_s/FeO (relative concentration of nanophase Fe⁰ divided by total FeO content), glass abundance, total Fe content, and degree of digestion of <20 μm clasts for 22 individual agglutinates (250–1000 μm) from the mature Apollo 16 soil 61181 (I_s/FeO = 82 units in the <250 μm fraction). Agglutinates are important products of space weathering on the Moon, and they influence spectral observations at visible and near-IR wavelengths. Values of I_s/FeO for individual agglutinates (250–1000 μm) within this single soil span a range from 3 to 262 units which is larger than the range observed for all Apollo 16 bulk soils (～0 to 110 units). No correlation was observed between I_s/FeO and glass abundance and FeO concentrations for either agglutinitic glass or whole agglutinate particles under investigation. Our results suggest that the variation in I_s/FeO for agglutinates from a single soil may be in part a consequence of natural mixing processes on the Moon that produce highly-variable environments (with respect to surface exposure) for agglutinate formation and in part to variable kinetics of reactions in an agglutinate melt, which are influenced by a variety of factors including melt composition, temperature, impactor velocity, and quench rate. We cannot exclude but do not see evidence for other processes including addition of exotic agglutinates, micrometeoritic bombardment into compositionally-diverse microtargets, recycling of agglutinates, preferential melting of very fine soil particles, and production of nanophase Fe⁰ in amorphous rims of very fine irradiated lunar grains contributing to the observed variation of I_s/FeO.     

Physical and mechanical properties of the lunar soil (a review)

We review the data on the physical and mechanical properties of the lunar soil that were acquired in the direct investigations on the lunar surface carried out in the manned and automatic missions and in the laboratory examination of the lunar samples returned to the Earth. In justice to the American manned program Apollo, we show that a large volume of the data on the properties of the lunar soil was also obtained in the Soviet automatic program Lunokhod and with the automatic space stations Luna-16, -20, and -24 that returned the lunar soil samples to the Earth. We consider all of the main physical and mechanical properties of the lunar soil, such as the granulometric composition, density and porosity, cohesion and adhesion, angle of internal friction, shear strength of loose soil, deformation characteristics (the deformation modulus and Poisson ratio), compressibility, and the bearing capacity, and show the change of some properties versus the depth. In most cases, the analytical dependence of the main parameters is presented, which is required in developing reliable engineering models of the lunar soil. The main physical and mechanical properties are listed in the summarizing table, and the currently available models and simulants of the lunar soil are reviewed.     

Permeability of JSC-1A: A lunar soil simulant

The permeability of lunar soil simulant, JSC-1A, is measured over a range of bulk densities from 1550 to 2000 kg m⁻³. The corresponding viscous flow permeability is 1 × 10⁻¹² m² to 6.1 × 10⁻¹² m² for this bulk density range. Implications of these values on the contamination of regolith by rockets, on barrier/enhancement to bulk flow of ice, and on cratering are discussed. Although the particle size and shape distribution of the JSC-1A are extremely wide, the permeability measurements agree surprisingly well with the Carman-Kozeny equation. The results provide evidence that the Carman-Kozeny model could be applicable to other naturally occurring soils if effective soil properties are considered.     

Long-term variations of solar corpuscular fluxes based on lunar soil samples

We report the results of age determination of a lunar soil column, delivered by the Luna 16 mission in September 1970 from the Sea of Fertility. We elaborated and applied the soil age determination method using the kinetic parameter, the regolith accumulation rate. The age of the soil delivered by Luna 16 is about 90 Myr. The isotopic ratio of ³He/⁴He in the column is slightly higher than in the soil column delivered by the Luna 24 mission. The abundance of helium in the fine fraction of the soil (about 100 µm) is significantly higher and is close to the maximum abundance from the Luna 24 soil column. These differences are most likely associated with the variations of solar corpuscular fluxes. Based on the measurements of the helium isotope abundance in the samples of lunar soil columns, we have estimated the values of ancient solar fluxes of protons and helium and variations thereof in the time interval of up to 600 Myr. We demonstrate that during this epoch there were two strong bursts of the helium flux, about 80 and 470 Myr ago, respectively. The existence of the first peak was assumed earlier from the paleodendrochronological data.     

Photometry of the lunar surface during lunar eclipses

The photometric observations of the lunar surface during lunar eclipses were carried out on four nights between 1972 to 1978, using the 91 cm reflector of the Dodaira Station of the Tokyo Astronomical Observatory. The photometry was performed in B-, V-, and R-colours, and arranged in accordance with the angular distance from the centre of the Earth's shadow. The results do not show any large systematic differences between the four nights, showing no support for Danjon's proposition.     

Preliminary results of an experimental study of the magnetic effects of shocking lunar soil

Preliminary shock experiments at approximately 50 and 250 kb have been carried out with lunar soil and with a dispersion of iron in quartz. The lunar soils acquire remanent magnetization in the Earth's field of order of magnitude 10^?3 G cm³ g^?1. The remanence exhibited considerable stability against AF demagnetization. Remanence appears to be acquired both during the passage of the shock wave through the material and during post shock cool-down. The higher shock range gave rise to an increase in magnetic viscosity and in the saturation magnetization of the soil, which is most readily explained as due to the generation of fine grained iron.     

Spectral properties of plagioclase and pyroxene mixtures and the interpretation of lunar soil spectra

The effects of particle size and mineral proportions on the spectral characteristics of plagioclase and pyroxene mixtures are investigated. Size separates (<25 μm, 25–45 μm, 45–75 μm, 75–125 μm, 125–250 μm, and 250–500 μm) have been prepared for the following labradorite/enstatite compositional mixtures: 100/0%, 95/5%, 85/15%, 50/50%, and 0/100%. Spectrally, the labradorite and enstatite samples are representative of the plagioclase feldspars and the orthopyroxenes: the labradorite exhibits a weak, broadband centered near 1.25 μm and the enstatite exhibits two well-defined bands centered near 0.9 and 1.9 μm. From analysis of the plagioclase bands of the mixtures, it is found that (1) the amount of plagioclase necessary for the plagioclase band to be observed as a discrete absorption band is dependent on particle size and (2) plagioclase can be detected by flattening of the pyroxene reflectance “peak” between the 0.9- and 1.9-μm absorption bands if significant amounts of plagioclase are present. Analogs for immature and mature lunar highland soils have been created to examine the combined effects of particle size and mineral proportions on spectra of plagioclase and pyroxene mixtures. bidirectional reflectance spectra of these soil analogs are used to examine the detectability of plagioclase in soil-like particle size distributions. Plagioclase in significant amounts is detected by the flattening of the pyroxene reflectance “peak” between the 0.9- and 1.9-μm absorption bands, and the plagioclase absorption band itself is observed with 85% plagioclase present. The soil analogs reveal that particle size accounts for only a minor spectral difference between immature and mature lunar highland soils. From comparisons with spectra of returned lunar samples, agglutinates are found to dominate the spectral variations associated with soil maturity. Spectra of the immature soil analogs can be used to estimate the minimum pyroxene abundance for immature regions observed remotely.     

The optical properties of the finest fraction of lunar soil: Implications for space weathering

Abstract— The fine fraction of lunar soils (<45 μm) dominates the optical properties of the bulk soil. Definite trends can be seen in optical properties of size separates with decreasing particle size: diminished spectral contrast and a steeper continuum slope. These trends are related to space weathering processes and their affects on different size fractions. The finest fraction (defined here as the <10 μm fraction) appears to be enriched in weathering products relative to the larger size fractions, as would be expected for surface correlated processes. This <10 μm fraction tends to exhibit very little spectral contrast, often with no distinguishable ferrous iron absorption bands. Additionally, the finest fractions of highland soils are observed to have very different spectral properties than the equivalent fraction of mare soils when compared with larger size fractions. The spectra of the finest fraction of feldspathic soils flatten at longer wavelengths, whereas those of the finest fraction of basaltic soils continue to increase in a steep, almost linear fashion. This compositional distinction is due to differences in the total amount of nanophase iron that accumulates in space weathering products. Such ground‐truth information derived from the <10 μm fraction of lunar soils provides valuable insight into optical properties to be expected in other space weathering environments such as the asteroids and Mercury.     

Solar wind noble gases and nitrogen in metal from lunar soil 68501

Abstract Noble gases and N were analyzed in handpicked metal separates from lunar soil 68501 by a combination of step-wise combustions and pyrolyses. Helium and Ne were found to be unfractionated with respect to one another when normalized to solar abundances, for both the bulk sample and for all but the highest temperature steps. However, they are depleted relative to Ar, Kr and Xe by at least a factor of 5. The heavier gases exhibit mass-dependent fractionation relative to solar system abundance ratios but appear unfractionated, both in the bulk metal and in early temperature steps, when compared to relative abundances derived from lunar ilmenite 71501 by chemical etching, recently put forward as representing the abundance ratios in solar wind. Estimates of the contribution of solar energetic particles (SEP) to the originally implanted solar gases, derived from a basic interpretation of He and Ne isotopes, yield values of about 10%. Analysis of the Ar isotopes requires a minimum of 20% SEP, and Kr isotopes, using our preferred composition for solar wind Kr, yield a result that overlaps both of these values. It is possible to reconcile the data from these gases if significant loss of solar wind Ar, Kr and presumably Xe has occurred relative to the SEP component, most likely by erosive processes that are mass independent, although mass-dependent losses (Ar > Kr > Xe) cannot be excluded. If such losses did occur, the SEP contribution to the solar implanted gases must have been no more than a few percent. Nitrogen is a mixture of indigenous meteoritic N, whose isotopic composition is inferred to be relatively light, and implanted solar N, which has probably undergone diffusive redistribution and fractionation. If the heavy noble gases have not undergone diffusive loss, then N/Ar in the solar wind can be inferred to be at least several times the accepted solar ratio. The solar wind N appears, even after correction for fractionation effects, to have a minimum δ¹⁵N value ≥+150‰ and a more probable value ≥+200‰.     

Geochemistry of the lunar highlands

The principal rock types in the highlands are highland basalt (gabbroic anorthosite) with 28% Al₂O₃ and low K Fra Mauro basalt with 18% Al₂O₃. The chemistry of the highland soils and breccias can be represented by simple mixing models involving these rock types as major constituents. The mixing occurred during the intense highland cratering. Layering observed at the Apennine Front is interpreted as produced the Serenitatis basin collision. The plains-forming Cayley Formation and the Descartes Formation are not volcanic, but are derived from pre-existing highland crust.Although the overall chemical composition of the Moon has been affected by pre-accretion processes (e.g. loss of volatile elements), the composition of the highlands is mainly the result of postaccretion melting and element fractionation. Thus the individual rock types show involatile element distribution patterns, relative to primitive abundances, indicative of solid-liquid equilibria, evidence of post-accretion lunar igneous activity.The chemistry of the primitive green glass component (15426) indicates that the abundance of the involatile elements (REE, Ba, Zr, Hf, Th and U) in the source regions is at most only 2–3 times the abundances in chondrites.Paper dedicated to Professor Harold C. Urey on the occasion of his 80th birthday on 29 April, 1973.     

Precession of the lunar core

Goldreich (Goldreich, P. [1967]. J. Geophys. Res. 72, 3135) showed that a lunar core of low viscosity would not precess with the mantle. We show that this is also the case for much of lunar history. But when the Moon was close to the Earth, the Moon’s core was forced to follow closely the precessing mantle, in that the rotation axis of the core remained nearly aligned with the symmetry axis of the mantle. The transition from locked to unlocked core precession occurred between 26.0 and 29.0 Earth radii, thus it is likely that the lunar core did not follow the mantle during the Cassini transition. Dwyer and Stevenson (Dwyer, C.A., Stevenson, D.J. [2005]. An Early Nutation-Driven Lunar Dynamo. AGU Fall Meeting Abstracts GP42A-06) suggested that the lunar dynamo needs mechanical stirring to power it. The stirring is caused by the lack of locked precession of the lunar core. So, we do not expect a lunar dynamo powered by mechanical stirring when the Moon was closer to the Earth than 26.0-29.0 Earth radii. A lunar dynamo powered by mechanical stirring might have been strongest near the Cassini transition.     

In situ experimental formation and growth of Fe nanoparticles and vesicles in lunar soil

We report the results of the first dynamic, in situ heating of lunar soils to simulate micrometeorite impacts on the lunar surface. We performed slow‐ and rapid‐heating experiments inside the transmission electron microscope to understand the chemical and microstructural changes in surface soils resulting from space‐weathering processes. Our slow‐heating experiments show that the formation of Fe nanoparticles begins at ~575 °C. These nanoparticles also form as a result of rapid‐heating experiments, and electron energy‐loss spectroscopy measurements indicate the Fe nanoparticles are composed entirely of Fe⁰, suggesting this simulation accurately mimics micrometeorite space‐weathering processes occurring on airless body surfaces. In addition to Fe nanoparticles, rapid‐heating experiments also formed vesiculated textures in the samples. Several grains were subjected to repeated thermal shocks, and the measured size distribution and number of Fe nanoparticles evolved with each subsequent heating event. These results provide insight into the formation and growth mechanisms for Fe nanoparticles in space‐weathered soils and could provide a new methodology for relative age dating of individual soil grains from within a sample population.     

Thermoluminescence of the lunar surface

Observations of the lunar luminescence are reported for a dozen of specific Moon features using the line-depth method with a high resolution spectroscopic technique. The data indicate a variation of the Moon proper emission as a function of the phase angle which is interpreted as a proof of the thermoluminescent origin of this emission.     

Formation of the lunar atmosphere

Measurements of⁴⁰Ar and helium made by the Apollo 17 lunar surface mass-spectrometer are used in the synthesis of atmospheric supply and loss mechanisms. The argon data indicate that about 8% of the⁴⁰Ar produced in the Moon due to decay of⁴⁰K is released to the atmosphere and subsequently lost. Variability of the atmospheric abundance of argon requires that the source be localized, probably in an unfractionated, partially molten core. If so, the radiogenic helium released with the argon amounts to 10% of the atmospheric helium supply. The total rate of helium escape from the Moon accounts for only 60% of the solar windα particle influx. This seems to require a nonthermal escape mechanism for trapped solar-wind gases, probably involving weathering of exposed soil grain surfaces by solar wind protons.     

Photometry of the lunar surface

The photometry of the Moon gives us some information about the properties of the lunar surface. The photometric uniformity of the lunar surface as a scattering screen is determined by the shadow phenomena on small irregularities due to the dust layer covering the whole surface. A small component of light (< 10 %) exhibits the features of the luminescence excited by solar radiations.Paper presented to the NATO Advanced Study Institute on Lunar Studies, Patras, Greece, September 1971.