Factors influencing the morphology of volcanic landforms: An earth-moon comparison

The products of volcanism on the Earth and Moon differ widely in terms of morphology, distribution, composition, and age. These differences result partly from the different thermal histories of the two bodies and partly through the different controls on volcanic eruption conditions. The controls of volcanism are here separated into three groups: (1) controls which remain constant on any one body but which differ from planet to planet: (2) parameters that are controlled by the rheology of the magma: and (3) controls which are intrinsic properties of individual eruptions and are themselves dependent upon the planetary and rheological variables. In terms of planetary variables it can be predicted that lunar volcanic morphologies are influenced by greater tephra range, hemispherical eruption clouds, lesser lithostatic pressures at corresponding depths, slower cooling, slower erosion, lesser horizontal stress differences, and no features typical of hydrosphere-magma interaction. In terms of rheology, the lunar eruptions had different rock and gas compositions, low yield strengths and viscosities, and high densities. Many lunar basalts appear to have been produced at high eruption rates, to have been derived from monogenetic volcanoes, and to have flowed in a turbulent manner.The weight of available data points to the vast majority of lunar craters being of impact origin though some dark halo craters, sinuous rille source craters, rimless pits, and craters atop domes and cones are undoubtedly of volcanic origin. Other impact craters appear to have been modified by volcanic events. Included within this latter group are the floor-fractured craters and the mare basins.Studies of volcanic morphologies on bodies other than the Earth may help isolate the effectiveness of those controls of volcanism which remain constant on any one body. Although volcanology has advanced substantially within the last few decades, much more detailed integrated scientific research is required before we are able to predict confidently the environmental hazards that result from volcanism and to understand the role of volcanism in planetary evolution.     

月球哥白尼纪地层特征与地质演化研究

月球哥白尼纪地层是月球演化历史中最年轻的地层单元,哥白尼纪撞击坑数量较少,但其形成的哥白尼纪地层却是全球性的、非常显著的,大多学者普遍认为哥白尼纪基本没有岩浆活动与构造活动。通过对月球哥白尼纪地层进行地质填图,认为月球高地地区撞击坑辐射纹相对月海地区辐射纹发育更好,推测其原因可能为高地与月海岩石性质不同,或撞击的小天体体积、能量、物质特征以及撞击的角度、速度不同等原因导致的;哥白尼纪地层可划分为早哥白尼世地层(C_1)、中哥白尼世地层(C_2)和晚哥白尼世地层(C_3),通过对各世典型撞击坑的分析与研究,阐述了哥白尼纪各世地层的特征,为开展月球晚期撞击作用特征与效应的研究提供了资料。对哥白尼纪-爱拉托逊纪地层界限进行了初步探讨,提出月球年代学多源数据综合判别法方案,以重新厘定哥白尼纪年代下限。     

月球火山作用的地貌学特征

火山活动是月球最主要的内动力地质作用之一,是研究月球地质历史和热演化的重要窗口,也是月球科学及探测的重点目标。本文概要总结了月球火山作用的基本原理,并重点介绍了"岩墙扩展"模型。基于此模型,列举了由于岩墙在月壳内部上升程度的不同,导致的不同形式的喷发活动,并在月表产生了一系列火山地貌特征:(1)当岩墙仅扩展到浅月表、未能穿透月壳并引起喷发活动时,可能会在月表产生坑链构造、地堑或底部断裂型撞击坑;(2)当岩墙穿透了整个月壳并引起爆裂式喷发活动时,会在月表产生小型火山锥、区域性火山碎屑堆积物、全月分布的微小火山玻璃、暗晕凹陷构造及环形火山碎屑堆积物;(3)当岩墙穿透了整个月壳并引起溢流式喷发活动时,随着岩浆喷发通量的逐步增高,会在月表产生小型熔岩流、月海穹窿、复合熔岩流、蜿蜒型月溪、巨型熔岩流及火山高原复合体。本文也简要介绍了在月表观测到的若干非典型火山地貌特征,包括不规则月海斑块、环形凹陷穹丘及非月海富硅质穹窿。近年来新的探月数据加深了对这些特殊火山地貌特征的认识,但是更多的地质特征及成因模型细节仍有待未来月球研究及探测去解决。     

地月系统不同成因环形构造及其影像特征

环形构造是一种常见的地质现象,特别是在月球上分布更为普遍。本文论述了三种成因的环形构造,即:侵入岩成因的环形构造,火山成因的环形构造,以及小天体撞击形成的撞击坑。文中详细介绍了它们的成因与结构特征,指出侵入岩成因的环形构造主要由岩浆冷凝收缩形成,在遥感影像上主要表现为影像色调的不同;火山成因的环形构造为火山口,在遥感影像上具有环形结构;而小天体撞击形成的撞击坑形态复杂,如碗形坑、中心锥环形坑与多环撞击坑,撞击坑的坑沿外缓内陡,遥感影像上表现为环形或弧形构造,有些撞击坑具有辐射纹。     

月壤中的氦-3

除了极少数非常陡峭的山脉与撞击坑和火山通道的峭壁外，整个月球表面几乎都被一层厚度不等的月尘、岩屑和岩块的混合堆积物即月壤所覆盖。由于月球无大气层等特殊环境，太阳光长驱直入，太阳风粒子直接注入到月壤细小颗粒上使月壤中富含稀有气体等太阳风粒子组分。本文在系统阐述月壤的形成过程与形成机制的基础上，分析了月壤中稀有气体的来源及其浓度与月壤的成熟度、月壤颗粒大小、月壤矿物组成和化学成分的相关关系，进而利用已有的探测数据和分析结果，对月壤中氦-3资源的开发利用前景进行了初步评估。     

Flood Basalts, Basalt Floods or Topless Bushvelds? Lunar Petrogenesis Revisited

There is a conspicuous dichotomy in the conventional model oflunar petrogenesis between the total intra-crustal differentiationpostulated for the products of feldspathic volcanism in thelunar highlands and the near absence of differentiation postulatedfor the products of mare volcanism. Both the cumulate mantlemodel, and the selenotherm postulated to accompany genesis ofalleged ‘primary’ mare magmas by remelting of thosecumulates, imply supra-adiabatic thermal gradients in near-solidusmaterials throughout the lunar mantle 4·3–3·2Ga ago. This should have resulted in vigorous convective motion,which has not occurred. There is no positive europium anomalyin the average lunar highland crust. That crust cannot, therefore,have formed by plagioclase flotation from a lunar magma ocean,for which there is no other requirement. There is no negativeeuropium anomaly in the average mantle to be inherited by latermare basalts. Other rocky bodies of lunar size in the SolarSystem have accreted at rates that allowed incorporation ofplenty of volatiles and without forming global magma oceans.Partial melting in the presence of water, followed by near-surfacefractionation and volatile losses can explain the feldspathiccharacter, high incompatible element concentrations and lackof Eu anomaly in the lunar highlands. Volcanic eruption on theMoon must have been accompanied by selective volatilizationlosses of sodium, sulphur and other elements similar to theprocess seen on Io, which can account for the major differencesbetween terrestrial and lunar basalts. Siderophile element depletionin lunar lavas may reflect immiscible sulphide liquid and metalseparation, rather than global impoverishment in such elements,and large ore bodies may have formed close to the lunar surface.Mare basalt volcanism appears to have been a protracted, lowmagma productivity event with few similarities to terrestrialocean-floor, ocean-island, continental flood basalt or komatiitevolcanism. At low pressure the crystallization of plagioclasewell before pyroxene typifies those terrestrial mid-ocean ridgebasalt, ocean-island basalt and continental flood basalt magmas.A similar sequence is demanded of the postulated lunar primarymagmas. Mare basalt hand-specimen and pyroclastic glass beadcompositions do not, however, display the required crystallizationsequence and cannot represent the required primary melt compositions.The true erupted lava compositions which gave rise to the regolithcompositions across all the maria are much more feldspathicthan the majority of large hand specimens and, in common withbasalts on other planets, they are close to low-pressure plagioclase-saturatedcotectic residual liquids which have evolved by removal of gabbrosin crustal magma chambers, or perhaps in giant lava lakes akinto topless Bushveld complexes. Any further debate could be resolvedby a 100 m drill core in a few mare locations. Field provenanceof samples from Mars, a planet half covered by flood basaltsand products of central volcanoes, will be little better thanfor those from the Moon. It will be important to encourage multipleworking hypotheses, rather than to rush to a consensus. KEY WORDS: lunar; basalt; highland; magma ocean; europium     

Feldspathic lunar meteorites and their implications for compositional remote sensing of the lunar surface and the composition of the lunar crust

We present new compositional data for six feldspathic lunar meteorites, two from cold deserts (Yamato 791197 and 82192) and four from hot deserts (Dhofar 025, Northwest Africa 482, and Dar al Gani 262 and 400). The concentrations of FeO (or Al₂O₃) and Th (or any other incompatible element) together provide first-order compositional information about lunar polymict samples (breccias and regoliths) and regions of the lunar surface observed from orbit. Concentrations of both elements on the lunar surface have been determined from data acquired by orbiting spacecraft, although the derived concentrations have large uncertainties and some systematic errors compared to sample data. Within the uncertainties and errors in the concentrations derived from orbital data, the distribution of FeO and Th concentrations among lunar meteorites, which represent ∼18 source regions on the lunar surface, is consistent with that of 18 random samples from the surface. Approximately 11 of the lunar meteorites are low-FeO and low-Th breccias, consistent with large regions of the lunar surface, particularly the northern farside highlands. Almost all regoliths from Apollo sites, on the other hand, have larger concentrations of both elements because they contain Fe-rich volcanic lithologies from the nearside maria and Th-rich lithologies from the high-Th anomaly in the northwestern nearside. The feldspathic lunar meteorites thus offer our best estimate of the composition of the surface of the feldspathic highlands, and we provide such an estimate based on the eight most well-characterized feldspathic lunar meteorites. The variable but high (on average) Mg/Fe ratio of the feldspathic lunar meteorites compared to ferroan anorthosites confirms a hypothesis that much of the plagioclase at the surface of the feldspathic highlands is associated with high-Mg/Fe feldspathic rocks such as magnesian granulitic breccia, not ferroan anorthosite. Geochemically, the high-Mg/Fe breccias appear to be unrelated to the mafic magnesian-suite rocks of the Apollo collection. Models for the formation of the upper lunar crust as a simple flotation cumulate composed mainly of ferroan anorthosite do not account for the complexity of the crust as inferred from the feldspathic lunar meteorites.     

月表典型区撞击坑形态分类及分布特征

月球表面环形构造主要有撞击坑、火山口和月海穹窿3种,其中撞击坑分布最广泛,是研究月表环形构造的主要内容。由于月表撞击坑数量大、种类多及其形成伴随着整个月球地质的演化过程,因此这种月表地形地貌比较完整地记录了月球表面地貌随时间的改造过程以及改造类型。文中通过研究撞击坑遥感影像及形貌特征,总结归纳为简单型、碗型、平底型、中央隆起型、同心环型、复杂型及月海残留型7种撞击坑类型,用来描述月表典型区域撞击坑的形态特征。从结构和物质两方面进行了月表典型区域撞击坑的形态地貌参数提取,综合利用嫦娥一号CCD 影像数据、LROC数据,得到了该区域撞击坑形态数据(坑底、坑唇、坑壁、坑缘、溅射物覆盖层、中央峰)和形态测量数据(直径、深度、地理位置)。研究发现,LQ 4地区的撞击坑分布可分为月陆区和月海区,月陆区的撞击坑多以中小型撞击坑为主,其分布密度极高,形成年代较早,月海区撞击坑多为年轻的撞击坑,分化程度较低,分布密度也较低。     

Feldspathic lunar meteorites Pecora Escarpment 02007 and Dhofar 489: Contamination of the surface of the lunar highlands by post-basin impacts

PCA (Pecora Escarpment) 02007 and Dhofar 489 are both meteorites from the feldspathic highlands of the Moon. PCA 02007 is a feldspathic breccia consisting of lithified regolith from the lunar surface. It has concentrations of both incompatible and siderophile elements that are at the high end of the ranges for feldspathic lunar meteorites. Dhofar 489 is a feldspathic breccia composed mainly of impact-melted material from an unknown depth beneath the regolith. Concentrations of incompatible and siderophile elements are the lowest among brecciated lunar meteorites. Among 19 known feldspathic lunar meteorites, all of which presumably originate from random locations in the highlands, concentrations of incompatible elements like Sm and Th tend to increase with those of siderophile elements like Ir. Feldspathic meteorites with high concentrations of both suites of elements are usually regolith breccias. Iridium derives mainly from micrometeorites that accumulate in the regolith with duration of surface exposure. Micrometeorites have low concentrations of incompatible elements, however, so the correlation must reflect a three-component system. We postulate that the correlation between Sm and Ir occurs because the surface of the Feldspathic Highlands Terrane has become increasingly contaminated with time in Sm-rich material from the Procellarum KREEP Terrane that has been redistributed across the lunar surface by impacts of moderate-sized, post-basin impacts. The most Sm-rich regolith breccias among feldspathic lunar meteorites are about 3× enriched compared to the most Sm-poor breccias, but this level of enrichment requires only a few percent Sm-rich material typical of the Procellarum KREEP Terrane. The meteorite data suggest that nowhere in the feldspathic highlands are the concentrations of K, rare earths, and Th measured by the Lunar Prospector mission at the surface representative of the underlying “bedrock;” all surfaces covered by old regolith (as opposed to fresh ejecta) are at least slightly contaminated. Dhofar 489 is one of 15 paired lunar-meteorite stones from Oman (total mass of meteorite: 1037 g). On the basis of its unusually high Mg/Fe ratio, the meteorite is likely to have originated from northern feldspathic highlands.     

On the origin of impact glass in the Apollo 16 regolith

This study addresses the issue of what fraction of the impact glass in the regolith of a lunar landing site derives from local impacts (those within a few kilometers of the site) as opposed to distant impacts (10 or more kilometers away). Among 10,323 fragments from the 64-210-μm grain-size fraction of three Apollo 16 regolith samples, 14% are impact glasses, that is, fragments consisting wholly or largely of glass produced in a crater-forming impact. Another 16% are agglutinates formed by impacts of micrometeorites into regolith. We analyzed the glass in 1559 fragments for major- and minor-element concentrations by electron probe microanalysis and a subset of 112 of the fragments that are homogeneous impact glasses for trace elements by secondary ion mass spectrometry. Of the impact glasses, 75% are substantially different in composition from either the Apollo 16 regolith or any mixture of rocks of which the regolith is mainly composed. About 40% of the impact glasses are richer in Fe, Mg, and Ti, as well as K, P, and Sm, than are common rocks of the feldspathic highlands. These glasses must originate from craters in maria or the Procellarum KREEP Terrane. Of the feldspathic impact glasses, some are substantially more magnesian (greater MgO/FeO) or have substantially lower concentrations of incompatible elements than the regolith of the Apollo 16 site. Many of these, however, are in the range of feldspathic lunar meteorites, most of which derive from points in the feldspathic highlands distant from the Procellarum KREEP Terrane. These observations indicate that a significant proportion of the impact glass in the Apollo 16 regolith is from craters occurring 100 km or more from the landing site. In contrast, the composition of glass in agglutinates, on average, is similar to the composition of the Apollo 16 regolith, consistent with local origin.     

月球形成演化与月球地质图编研

按照大碰撞假说,月球形成于一次大碰撞事件,抛射出的高能量物质留在绕地轨道上,最后吸积形成月球。月球核幔在早期迅速发生分离,并出现全球性的岩浆熔融,形成了岩浆圈层（岩浆洋）。岩浆洋的结晶分异和固化导致了月壳的形成。随着月壳与月幔发生持续分异,形成了固化的月壳。而在月球后期的演化历史中,撞击作用是最重要的地质作用,形成了多尺度、多期次的撞击盆地和撞击坑,而大型撞击盆地多形成于月球演化的早期。月球地质图是开展月球形成与演化研究的重要手段,从20世纪60年代起,到70年代末止,通过对阿波罗时代探月成果的系统总结,完成了第一轮月球地质图的研制。但尽管从20世纪90年代以来国际月球探测和月球科学的研究进入一个新的高潮,获得了大量有关月球形成和演化的新认识,但还没有正式的新的月球地质图发布,因此开展新一轮月球地质图的编研,系统总结后阿波罗时代的月球探测与研究成果,是非常必要和迫切的。在新一轮月球地质图的编制过程中,需重点关注图件比例尺的选择、月面历史的划分以及月球构造和岩石建造的表达。     

基于多源数据的月球大地构造纲要图编制: 以LQ-4地区为例

月球表面的地质构造要素主要包括环形构造、线性构造、地体构造及大型盆地构造等。月球大地构造纲要图从物质组成、构造要素、构造单元上对月表的构造状态进行全面的梳理、统计和分析。利用CE 1 CCD 2C像数据、LROC宽视角影像数据、CE 1 IIM 2C干涉成像光谱仪数据、Clementine紫外可见光影像数据、LOLA激光高度计数据识别月球表面各类矿物组分、线形构造、环形构造、火山构造和穹窿构造以及确定构造要素和构造单元的时代、古老撞击坑和大型盆地边界以及对月球表面撞击坑形态、大小、分布、密度及月球断裂和环形影像解译,充分认识月表基本情况,精细划分月表构造地貌单元,综合利用上述分析结果与国际上研究的进展,确定大地构造区划的基本原则,厘定月表重大构造事件与演化序列。依据岩石、月壤、构造地貌与构造形迹的综合分类,拟定大地构造区划的图例、图识规范,确定不同类型环形构造影像、线性构造影像、高地、盆地和月海等大地构造单元,进而编制大地构造区划图,并对重点区域构造形迹进行研究。虹湾区域(LQ 4)月球数字构造编图研究,充分借鉴国际行星地质编图的已有技术标准和规范,结合国内数字地质编图的技术标准和规范,建立了中国自己的月球与行星地质编图标准、规范和制图流程,也为最终完成月球大地构造区划提供地貌和构造方面的基础信息。     

Martian volcanism: Current state of knowledge and known unknowns

Much has been discovered about volcanism on Mars over the past fifty years of space exploration. Previous reviews of these discoveries have generally focused on the volcanic constructs (e.g., Olympus Mons and the other volcanoes within the Tharsis and Elysium regions), the analysis of individual lava flows, and how volcanic activity on Mars has evolved over time. Here we focus on attributes of volcanology that have received less attention and build upon characteristics of terrestrial volcanoes to pose new questions to guide future analyses of their Martian equivalents either with existing data sets or with new types of measurements that need to be made. The remarkable lack of exposed dikes at eroded ancient volcanoes attests to an internal structure that is different from terrestrial equivalents. Enigmatic aspects of the origin of the ridged plains (commonly accepted to be volcanic but with few identifiable flow fronts and only rare vents), the style(s) of volcanism during the earliest period of Martian history (the Noachian), and the possible mode(s) of formation of the Medusae Fossae Formation are considered here. Martian meteorites have been dated and are volcanic, but they cannot be correlated with specific geographic areas, or the chronology of Mars derived from the number of superimposed impact craters. Some of these questions about Martian volcanism can be addressed with existing instrumentation, but further progress will most likely rely on the acquisition of new data sets such as high-resolution gravity data, the return of samples from known localities, the flight of a synthetic aperture imaging radar, penetrators sent to the Medusae Fossae Formation, and detailed in situ field observations of selected volcanic sites.     

Taming the killer lakes of Cameroon

A chain of volcanoes, some of them still active, extends from the Atlantic Ocean into the highlands of Cameroon. Mount Cameroon, located at the edge of the continent, erupted in 1999 and 2000 and spewed lava part-way down its flanks, cutting off a coastal road. A number of the now extinct (or dormant) volcanic craters on the continental part of the line are filled with water, forming crater lakes. These lakes have achieved mythical status in local tribal lore. Lacking a written history, prior to the arrival of the colonial powers, much of our understanding of past natural phenomena relating to the lakes is based on these myths.     

月壤厚度的研究方法与进展

月壤厚度的研究对未来月球探测、登月与月球资源开发均具有十分重要的意义。它是恢复月球起源和演化历史的重要参数,也是估算月球3He资源量的必要前提。本文将月壤厚度的研究方法归纳为直接和间接两类,直接方法主要是利用月震数据对月壤厚度进行推算,间接方法包括基于撞击坑形态、分布以及地基雷达遥感数据估算月壤厚度两种。随着定量微波遥感的发展,结合我国嫦娥探月工程的实施,利用高分辨率被动微波遥感亮温反演月壤厚度为月壤厚度的研究指出一个新的方向。     

月表撞击坑自动识别与提取的新方法及其应用

月表撞击坑是月球最显著的地质构造特征。随着不同月球探测器探测数据的丰富与数据质量的提高,月表地质信息挖掘成为月球科学领域重要的研究内容。月表分布广泛的撞击事件的撞击机理研究和月表地质单元的地质年龄的判定等科学问题都离不开对撞击坑的研究。因此,对撞击坑进行识别和特征参数提取是挖掘以上月表地质隐含信息的基础和关键。针对目前用于撞击坑识别和特征参数提取的方法存在效率低下、应用范围有限等种种缺陷,提出了一种新的月表环形构造识别和特征参数提取方法,并且实现了定量自动化处理。首先,根据撞击坑环形构造特征,利用坡度指数提取坑壁多边形矢量要素;其次,提出并采用环形构造最小外包矩形法提取撞击坑的伪中心与伪直径;然后,以伪中心为中心点向外搜寻并确定撞击坑坑缘顶点;最后,利用三点定圆法确定撞击坑的中心位置和直径大小。以嫦娥一号CCD相机影像数据和利用CCD立体相机制作的DEM数据为数据源,选取不同区域、不同类型的月表撞击坑进行试验,并将计算结果与目前研究成果进行对比。结果验证表明,此方法可以推广到月表其他表面,并可应用于月表撞击坑形成机理研究和利用撞击坑大小频率分布测量的方法确定月表地质单元的地质年龄工作中。     

Recent sand volcanoes in the sand of a dike under construction

Sand volcanoes are small volcano-like features. They range in diameter from a few centimetres to several metres. Five volcanoes with a maximum diameter of 2 m were observed during the construction of a dike on the coast of Northwestern Germany. The cones reached heights of about 15 cm with craters in the middle. The rise of the volcanoes is explained by de-watering of sediment.     

Crustal evolution of the early earth: The role of major impacts

Impact cratering was an important — even dominant — process affecting the crustal evolution of the small terrestrial planets. The fundamental highlands/maria dichotomy of the Moon's surface can be traced to a late heavy bombardment by basin-forming, asteroid-sized bodies which produced not only a topographic division in the lunar crust but also localized the later eruptions of mare basalts. Major impact basins with diameters in excess of 200 km are recognized throughout the inner solar system from Mars to Mercury. Similar craters must have formed on the Earth prior to 4 Ga ago, and the minimum number of such basin-forming impacts can be calculated by scaling from the observed (minimum) number preserved on the Moon. When allowance is made for differences in impact velocity, gravitational cross-section and the effects of gravity on crater diameter, it is found that at least 50% of a presumed global sialic crust would have been converted into impact basins by 4 Ga ago. Among the effects resulting from the impact of an asteroidal object on the early crust were: (a) establishment of a topographic dichotmy of 3–4 km (after isostatic adjustment), (b) pressure-release partial melting of the upper mantle and rapid flooding of the basin floor by basalt, and (c) enhancement of thermal gradients in the sub-basin lithosphere and upper asthenosphere. Comparative planetary data such as impact scaling can be used as important constraints on models of the early terrestrial crust. For example, the topography resulting from impact bombardment produced discrete oceans and dry land by 4 Ga ago, making unreasonable models of a globe-encircling ocean on the Earth after that time.     

Tektites: A post-Apollo view

Prior to the receipt of the lunar samples, it was the scientific consensus that tektites were melted and splashed material formed during large cometary or meteorite impact events. Whether the impact took place on the Earth or the Moon was the topic of a long-standing scientific debate, which raged with particular intensity during the decade previous to the lunar landings.Four definite and separate tektite-strewn fields are known: bediasites (North America, 34 m.y.); moldavites (Czechoslovakia, 14 m.y.); Ivory Coast (1.3 m.y.); and Southeast Asian and Australian fields (0.7 m.y.). A fifth possible occurrence, of high-Na australites, possibly 3–4 m.y. old, remains to be substantiated. The age of infall of the australites is not agreed upon. Radiometric and fission track dates agree with the magnetic stratigraphy for deep-sea core microtektite occurrences at about 0.7 m.y. Terrestrial stratigraphic evidence favours a recent (30,000 years) date.The chemistry of tektites appears to reflect that of the parent material, and losses during fusion appear to be restricted to elements and compounds more volatile than cesium. Terrestrial impact glasses provide small-scale analogues of tektite-forming events, and indicate that only the most volatile components are lost during fusion.The Apollo lunar missions provide critical evidence which refutes the hypothesis of lunar origin of tektites. Tektite chemistry is totally distinct from that observed in lunar maria basalts. These possess Cr contents which are two orders of magnitude higher than tektites, distinctive REE patterns with large Eu depletions, high Fe and low SiO₂ contents, low K/U ratios and many other diagnostic features, none of which are observed in the chemistry of tektites. The lunar uplands compositions, as shown by Apollo 14, 15 and 16 samples and the μ-ray and XRF orbiter data, are high-Al, low-SiO₂ compositions totally dissimilar to those of tektites. The composition of lunar rock 12013 shows typical lunar features and is distinct from that of tektites. The small amounts of lunar K-rich granitic material found in the soils have K/Mg and K/Na ratios 10–50 times those of tektites.The ages of the lunar maria (3.2–3.8 aeons) and uplands (> 4.0 aeons) are an order of magnitude older than the parent material of the Southeast Asian and Australian tektites, which yield Rb-Sr isochrons indicating ages of the order of 100–300 m.y. The lunar lead isotopic compositions are highly radiogenic whereas tektites have terrestrial Pb isotopic ratios. Lunar δ¹⁸ O values are low (< 7 per mil) compared with values of +9.6 to +11.5 per mil for tektites. In summary, a lunar impact origin for tektites is not compatible with the chemistry, age or isotopic composition of the lunar samples. A lunar volcanic origin, recently revived by O'Keefe (1970) encounters most of the same problems. Recent lunar volcanism (< 50 m.y.), if the source of tektites, should contribute tektite glass to the upper layers of the regolith. None has been found. The presence of meteoritic components in tektites, and the high pressure phase coesite, are more readily interpreted as evidence of impact.The element abundances and inter-element variations in tektites do not resemble those in terrestrial igneous rocks, but show a close similarity to terrestrial sandstones. The composition of the Southeast Asian tektites, australites and moldavites resembles that of micaceous sandstones or subgreywackes, the Ivory Coast tektite composition is similar to that of greywacke, and the bediasite chemistry is analogous to that of arkose.No suitable terrestrial impact site has been identified for the bediasites, Southeast Asian tektites and australites. It is suggested that a search for the source of these latter strewnfields be made using satellite photographs to look for wide shallow craters produced by super-Tunguska type events on areas of Mesozoic sandstones. The moldavites were possibly formed during the Ries Crater event but, if so, the precise source of the material remains to be identified. The Ivory Coast tektites are linked by chemistry, isotope and age evidence to the Bosumtwi Crater, Ghana. The overall evidence now supports the origin of tektites by cometary (or meteorite) impact on terrestrial sedimentary rocks.