Duration and extent of lunar volcanism: Comparison of 3D convection models to mare basalt ages

It is widely accepted that lunar volcanism started before the emplacement of the mare fills ( b.p.) and lasted for probably more than 3.0 Ga. While the early volcanic activity is relatively easy to understand from a thermal point of view, the late stages of volcanism are harder to explain, because a relatively small body like the Earth's Moon is expected to cool rapidly and any molten layer in the interior should solidify rather quickly. We present several thermal evolution models, in which we varied the boundary conditions at the model surface in order to evaluate the influence on the extent and lifetime of a molten layer in the lunar interior. To investigate the influence of a top insulating layer we used a fully three-dimensional spherical shell convection code for the modelling of the lunar thermal history. In all our models, a partial melt zone formed nearly immediately after the simulation started (early in lunar history), consistent with the identification of lunar cryptomare and early mare basalt volcanism on the Moon. Due to the characteristic thickening of the Moon's lithosphere the melt zone solidified from above. This suggests that the source regions of volcanic rock material proceeded to increasing depth with time. The rapid growth of a massive lithosphere kept the Moon's interior warm and prevented the melt zone from fast freezing. The lifetimes of the melt zones derived from our models are consistent with basalt ages obtained from crater chronology. We conclude that an insulating megaregolith layer is sufficient to prevent the interior from fast cooling, allowing for the thermal regime necessary for the production and eruption of young lava flows in Oceanus Procellarum.     

Magma genesis in a battered Moon: Effects of basin-forming impacts

Magma genesis in the Moon could have been significantly altered by large impacts if they melted solidified residual liquids and late cumulates from the ‘magma ocean’. Calculations of the heat required to melt these materials, under different assumed conditions, are compared to estimates of the total kinetic energy of the Imbrium impact. For a significant amount of these materials to have been melted, they must have been near their solidus temperatures, the impacts must have been very large, and the lunar lithosphere must have been locally heated at depths of 70 to 140 km. Unless the Imbrium impact released at least the maximum estimated kinetic energy, only larger impacts, e.g., the proposed ‘Gargantuan’ impact, could have augmented the intrinsic lunar heat budget enough to locally alter the abundance, timing of eruption, and chemical compositions of lunar magmas. The mechanical and thermal energy generated by such an impact could have been critical in creating (1) the higher concentrations of radioactive elements in the Imbrium/Procellarum area by migration of residual liquids driven by differential lithospheric thickness; and (2) hybrid mare basalts (representing varying proportions of late cumulates and/or residual liquids incorporated into primitive magmas rising from the partially molten lunar interior). Complete compositional spectra of lunar basalts are to be expected, from primitive mare basalts to pure KREEP and to Ti-rich varieties. Comparison of the Gargantuan/Imbrium area with ancient basins in the eastern nearside area suggests that the interplay between the Moon's internal heat engine and the timing of large impacts was a crucial factor in determining the time of tunar volcanism and the chemical composition of the lavas.     

Volatiles in lunar regolith samples: A survey

A summary is given of the literature data on the content of volatiles in the lunar regolith, the characterization of the likely sources of the volatiles, and the possible processes of their migration and burial. The main sources of volatiles in the regolith are the solar wind, small Solar System bodies (comets and meteorites), and the lunar interior. Different sources are the leading ones for different volatiles. Water and other volatiles can accumulate on the surface and in the near-surface layers of the Moon only in the so-called cold traps in polar basins, where other volatiles, as well as water ice, including highly toxic elements such as mercury and cadmium must be accumulated. The content of volatiles in the lunar interior is comparable to that in terrestrial rocks. Water could have played an important role in the early stages of the Moon’s history, e.g., in the formation of mare basalts. The isotopic composition of the lunar juvenile water is similar to that on the Earth, which suggests a common origin of the terrestrial and lunar water.     

The chemical composition and structure of the moon

Three types of igneous rocks, all ultimately related to basaltic liquids, appear to be common on the lunar surface. They are: (1) iron-rich mare basalts, (2) U-, REE-, and Al-rich basalts (KREEP), and (3) plagioclase-rich or anorthositic rocks. All three rock types are depleted in elements more volatile than sodium and in the siderophile elements when relative element abundances are compared with those of carbonaceous chondrites. The chemistry and age relationships of these rocks suggest that they are derived from a feldspathic, refractory element-rich interior that becomes more pyroxenitic; that is, iron/magnesium-rich; with depth.It is suggested that the deeper parts of the lunar interior tend toward chondritic element abundances. The radial variation in mineralogy and bulk chemical composition inferred from the surface chemistry is probably a primitive feature of the Moon that reflects the accretion of refractory elementenriched materials late in the formation of the body.     

Reflectance spectra of analog basalts; implications for remote sensing of lunar geology

Lunar mare basalts, highland anorthosites and KREEP are the three major lunar rock types reported from the lunar surface. In the present study, we interpret the reflectance spectral behavior of lunar analog basalts including massive basalt, vesicular basalt and amygdaloidal basalt collected from the Deccan basaltic region, which are considered as equivalent of lunar mare basalts. Reflectance spectra of analog basalts were measured at three different environments: in the field, under controlled field conditions and in the lab. In field conditions the reflectance spectra were measured under 350-1050 nm spectral range. During controlled field and lab condition, reflectance spectra were measured under 350-2500 nm range covering the UV, visible, NIR, and SWIR regions. The spectral characteristics of basalts measured under different environments and their merits and demerits were discussed. However, lab spectra have given clear, reliable diagnostic spectral information for our present objective. The major oxides and minerals of analog basalts were compared with lunar mare basalts. The presence of Ca-pyroxene, ferrous and ferric iron and their diagnostic spectral features in basalts are discussed for study of lunar mare region.     

Basaltic magmatism and the bulk composition of the moon

The lunar interior is comprised of two major petrological provinces: (1) an outer zone several hundred km thick which experienced partial melting and crystallization differentiation 4.4–4.6 b.y. ago to form the lunar crust together with an underlying complementary zone of ultramafic cumulates and residua, and (2) the primordial deep interior which was the source region for mare basalts (3.2–3.8 b.y.) and had previously been contaminated to varying degrees with highly fractionated material derived from the 4.4–4.6 b.y. differentiation event. In both major petrologic provinces, basaltic magmas have been produced by partial melting. The chemical characteristics and high-pressure phase relationships of these magmas can be used to constrain the bulk compositions of their respective source regions.Primitive low-Ti mare basalts (e.g., 12009, 12002, 15555 and Green Glass) possessing high normative olivine and high Mg and Cr contents, provide the most direct evidence upon the composition of the primordial deep lunar interior. This composition, as estimated on the basis of high pressure equilibria displayed by the above basalts, combined with other geochemical criteria, is found to consist of orthopyroxene + clinopyroxene + olivine with total pyroxenes > olivine, 100 MgO/(MgO + FeO) = 75–80, about 4% of CaO and Al₂O₃ and 2× chondritic abundances of REE, U and Th. This composition is similar to that of the earth's mantle except for a higher pyroxene/olivine ratio and lower 100 MgO/(MgO + FeO).The lunar crust is believed to have formed by plagioclase elutriation within a vast ocean of parental basaltic magma. The composition of the latter is found experimentally by removing liquidus plagioclase from the observed mean upper crust (gabbroic anorthosite) composition, until the resulting composition becomes multiply saturated with plagioclase and a ferromagnesian phase (olivine). This parental basaltic composition is almost identical with terrestrial oceanic tholeiites, except for partial depletion in the two most volatile components, Na₂ and SiO₂. Similarity between these two most abundant classes of lunar and terrestrial basaltic magmas strongly implies corresponding similarities between their source regions. The bulk composition of the outer 400 km of the Moon as constrained by the 4.6-4.4 b.y. parental basaltic magma is found to be peridotitic, with olivine > pyroxene, 100 MgO/ (MgO + FeO) 86, and about 2× chondritic abundances of Ca, Al and REE. The Moon thus appears to have a zoned structure, with the deep interior (below 400 km) possessing somewhat higher contents of FeO and SiO₂ than the outer 400 km. This zoned model, derived exclusively on petrological grounds, provides a quantitative explanation of the Moon's mean density, moment of inertia and seismic velocity profile.The bulk composition of the entire Moon, thus obtained, is very similar to the pyrolite model composition for the Earth's mantle, except that the Moon is depleted in Na (and other volatile elements) and somewhat enriched in iron. The similarity in major element composition extends also to the abundances of REE, U and Th. These compositional similarities, combined with the identity in oxygen isotope ratios between the Moon and the Earth's mantle, are strongly suggestive of a common genetic relationship.     

Limits on the bulk composition of the Moon

Recent hypotheses of lunar evolution hold that the Moon was extensively or completely melted and differentiated about 4.6 b.y. ago, resulting in formation of the plagioclase-rich lunar highlands underlain by a great thickness of complementary ferromagnesian cumulates. Mare basalts are interpreted as being formed by subsequent remelting of these cumulates. These hypotheses are tested experimentally in the cases of several bulk compositions which have been proposed for the Moon—those of Taylor and Jakes, Ganapathy and Anders, Wänke and co-workers, and Anderson. An extensive experimental investigation of melting equilibria displayed by the Taylor-Jakes model at high pressures and temperatures is presented. This permits a quantitative evaluation of the manner in which a model Moon with this composition would crystallize and differentiate under conditions of (i) total melting throughout, and (ii) total melting only of an outer shell a few hundred kilometers thick. A detailed study is made of the capacity of the cumulates underlying the crust in these models to produce mare basalts by a second stage of partial melting. A wide range of experimentally based arguments is presented, showing that for both cases, partial melting of such cumulates would produce magmas with compositions quite unlike those of mare basalts. In order to minimize these difficulties, bulk lunar compositions containing substantially smaller abundances of involatile components (e.g. CaO, Al₂O₃, TiO₂) relative to major components of intermediate volatility (e.g. MgO, SiO₂, FeO) than are specified in the Taylor-Jakes model, appear to be required. Other bulk lunar composition models proposed by Ganapathy and Anders, Wänke and co-workers and Anderson, were similarly tested in the light of experimental data. All of these are far too rich in (Ca and Al) relative to (Mg + Si + Fe) to yield, after melting and differentiation, cumulates capable of being parental to mare basalts. Moreover these compositions, whdn melted and differentiated, appear incapable of matching the composition of the pyroxene component of the lunar highland crust.A brief discussion of the petrogenesis of mare basakts is presented. The most promising model is one in which only the outer few hundred kilometers of the Moon were melted and differentiated around 4.6 b.y. ago. Continued radioactive heating of the deep undifferentiated lunar interior provided a second generation of primitive magmas up to 1.5 b.y. after the early melting and differentiation. These primitive magmas participated in assimilative interactions with late-stage differentiates formed near the crust-mantle boundary during the 4.6 b.y. differentiation. These interactions might explain some trace element and isotopic characteristics of mare basalts. The model possesses some attractive characteristics relating to the thermal evolution of the Moon.     

Lunar and terrestrial tidal effects on the Moon's rotational motion

An accurate model of the rotation of the Moon, constructed by numerical integration, has been presented in a previous paper. All direct perturbations capable of producing at least 10^–4 seconds of arc on the Moon's rotational motion have been included, and the physical librations resulting from planetary effects and Earth-Moon figure-figure interactions have been presented. The present study deals with the Moon's physical librations resulting from the non-rigidities of the Moon and the Earth. The effects of the Moon's elasticity and of a lunar phase lag are analyzed. Physical librations due to lunar tides and those due to terrestrial tides are presented and described.     

Tectonic pattern of mare ridges of the letronne-montes riphaeus region of the Moon

A structural analysis is presented of mare ridges in an area of about 360000 km² in the southeastern part of Oceanus Procellarum just north of Mare Humorum.Mare ridges can be regarded as the result of large-scale natural tectonic deformation experiments coupled with and extended by volcanic phenomena. The old lunar crust has evidently retained part of the Moon's original tectonic elements throughout major exo- and endogenic events. Those structures which in places were flooded by mare lavas were also the first flaws to yield and to extend during younger tectonic and volcanic activity. Linear mare ridges may thus have formed at the activated and re-activated junctures of lunar crustal plates.Implications for the tectonics of mare ridges evidently show that one global stress field cannot account for all lunar tectonics but that global and areal variations in the lunar stress system have probably occurred.     

Lunar velocity structure and compositional and thermal inferences

Seismic data from the Apollo Passive Seismic Network stations are analyzed to determine the velocity structure and to infer the composition and physical properties of the lunar interior. Data from artificial impacts (S-IVB booster and LM ascent stage) cover a distance range of 70–1100 km. Travel times and amplitudes, as well as theoretical seismograms, are used to derive a velocity model for the outer 150 km of the Moon. TheP wave velocity model confirms our earlier report of a lunar crust in the eastern part of Oceanus Procellarum.The crust is about 60 km thick and may consist of two layers in the mare regions. Possible values for theP-wave velocity in the uppermost mantle are between 7.7 km s^–1 and 9.0 km s^–1. The 9 km s^–1 velocity cannot extend below a depth of about 100 km and must decrease below this depth. The elastic properties of the deep interior as inferred from the seismograms of natural events (meteoroid impacts and moonquakes) occurring at great distance indicate that there is an increase in attenuation and a possible decrease of velocity at depths below about 1000 km. This verifies the high temperatures calculated for the deep lunar interior by thermal history models.Paper presented at the Lunar Science Institute Conference on Geophysical and Geochemical Exploration of the Moon and Planets, January 10–12, 1973.     

On the chronology of lunar origin and evolution

An origin of the Moon by a Giant Impact is presently the most widely accepted theory of lunar origin. It is consistent with the major lunar observations: its exceptionally large size relative to the host planet, the high angular momentum of the Earth–Moon system, the extreme depletion of volatile elements, and the delayed accretion, quickly followed by the formation of a global crust and mantle.According to this theory, an impact on Earth of a Mars-sized body set the initial conditions for the formation and evolution of the Moon. The impact produced a protolunar cloud. Fast accretion of the Moon from the dense cloud ensured an effective transformation of gravitational energy into heat and widespread melting. A “Magma Ocean” of global dimensions formed, and upon cooling, an anorthositic crust and a mafic mantle were created by gravitational separation.Several 100 million years after lunar accretion, long-lived isotopes of K, U and Th had produced enough additional heat for inducing partial melting in the mantle; lava extruded into large basins and solidified as titanium-rich mare basalt. This delayed era of extrusive rock formation began about 3.9 Ga ago and may have lasted nearly 3 Ga.A relative crater count timescale was established and calibrated by radiometric dating (i.e., dating by use of radioactive decay) of rocks returned from six Apollo landing regions and three Luna landing spots. Fairly well calibrated are the periods ≈4 Ga to ≈3 Ga BP (before present) and ≈0.8 Ga BP to the present. Crater counting and orbital chemistry (derived from remote sensing in spectral domains ranging from γ- and x-rays to the infrared) have identified mare basalt surfaces in the Oceanus Procellarum that appear to be nearly as young as 1 Ga. Samples returned from this area are needed for narrowing the gap of 2 Ga in the calibrated timescale. The lunar timescale is not only used for reconstructing lunar evolution, but it serves also as a standard for chronologies of the terrestrial planets, including Mars and possibly early Earth.The Moon holds a historic record of Galactic cosmic-ray intensity, solar wind composition and fluxes and composition of solids of any size in the region of the terrestrial planets. Some of this record has been deciphered. Secular mixing of the Sun was constrained by determining ³He/⁴He of solar wind helium stored in lunar fines and ancient breccias. For checking the presumed constancy of the impact rate over the past ≈3.1 Ga, samples of the youngest mare basalts would be needed for determining their radiometric ages.Radiometric dating and stratigraphy has revealed that many of the large basins on the near side of the Moon were created by impacts about 4.1 to 3.8 Ga ago. The apparent clustering of ages called “Late Heavy Bombardment (LHB)” is thought to result from migration of planets several 100 million years after their accretion.The bombardment, unexpectedly late in solar system history, must have had a devastating effect on the atmosphere, hydrosphere and habitability on Earth during and following this epoch, but direct traces of this bombardment have been eradicated on our planet by plate tectonics. Indirect evidence about the course of bombardment during this epoch on Earth must therefore come from the lunar record, especially from additional data on the terminal phase of the LHB. For this purpose, documented samples are required for measuring precise radiometric ages of the Orientale Basin and the Nectaris and/or Fecunditatis Basins in order to compare these ages with the time of the earliest traces of life on Earth.A crater count chronology is presently being built up for planet Mars and its surface features. The chronology is based on the established lunar chronology whereby differences between the impact rates for Moon and Mars are derived from local fluxes and impact energies of projectiles. Direct calibration of the Martian chronology will have to come from radiometric ages and cosmic-ray exposure ages measured in samples returned from the planet.     

Report of the Working Party on the classification of the lunar igneous rocks

Abstract— A report is presented for a possible revised classification of lunar igneous rocks that still uses the division of Moon rocks into mare and highland types. It subdivides the mare rocks into basalts depending on TiO₂ content and glasses depending on colour, and subdivides the highland rocks principally into KREEP basalts and into coarse‐grained igneous rocks comparable to and using terrestrial igneous rock terminology.     

The great-circle pattern of large circular maria: product of an earth-moon encounter

The circular maria - Orientale, Imbrium, Serenitatis, Crisium, Smythii, and Tsiolkovsky -lie nearly on a lunar great circle. This pattern can be considered the result of a very close, non-capture encounter between Moon and Earth early in solar-system history. Of critical importance in analyzing the effects of such an encounter is the position of the weightlessness limit of the Earth-Moon System which is located at about 1.63R _e, measured from the center of Earth to center of Moon. Within this weightlessness limit, material can be pulled from the lunar surface and interior by Earth's gravity and either escape from the Moon or be redistributed onto the lunar surface. In the case of an encounter with a non-spinning Moon, backfalling materials would be distributed along a lunar great circle. However, if the Moon is rotating during the encounter, the backfall pattern will deviate from the great circle, the amount depending on the rate and direction of spin. Such a close encounter model may be related to the pattern of circular maria if materials departing from the source region are visualized as spheroids of molten lunar upper mantle basalt. These spheroids, then, would impact onto the lunar surface to form a pattern of lava lakes. Radiometric dates from mare rocks are consistent with this model of mare formation if the older mare rock dates are considered to date the encounter and younger dates are considered to date subsequent volcanic eruptions on a structurally weakened Moon.     

The evolution of the moon

The thermal evolution of the Moon as it can be defined by the available data and theoretical calculations is discussed. A wide assortment of geological, geochemical and geophysical data constrain both the present-day temperatures and the thermal history of the lunar interior. On the basis of these data, the Moon is characterized as a differentiated body with a crust, a 1000-km-thick solid mantle (lithosphere) and an interior region (core) which may be partially molten. The presence of a crust indicates extensive melting and differentiation early in the lunar history. The ages of lunar samples define the chronology of igneous activity on the lunar surface. This covers a time span of about 1.5 billion yr, from the origin to about 3.16 billion yr ago. Most theoretical models require extensive melting early in the lunar history, and the outward differentiation of radioactive heat sources.Thermal history calculations, whether based on conductive or convective computation codes define relatively narrow bounds for the present day temperatures in the lunar mantle. In the inner region of the 700 km radius, the temperature limits are wider and are between about 100 and 1600°C at the center of the Moon. This central region could have a partially or totally molten core.The lunar heat flow values (about 30 ergs/cm²s) restrict the present day average uranium abundance to 60 ± 15 ppb (averaged for the whole Moon) with typical ratios of K/U = 2000 and Th/U = 3.5. This is consistent with an achondritic bulk composition for the Moon.The Moon, because of its smaller size, evolved rapidly as compared to the Earth and Mars. The lunar interior is cooling everywhere at the present and the Moon is tectonically inactive while Mars could be and the Earth is definitely active.     

Distortions of the Moon's figure due to the Earth

The second zonal and the second sectorial Stokes parameters of the Moon's gravitational field and/or the polar and equatorial flattenings of the lunar triaxial level ellipsoid have been explained by the tidal and rotational distortions due to the Earth. The Epoch at which the Moon's figure formation was finished has been estimated as 1.6 × 10⁹ y B. P. when the Earth-Moon distance was about 168 400 km and the orbital/rotational period of the Moon about 8 days.     

On the model of the accumulation of the moon compatible with the data on the composition and the age of lunar rocks

It is suggested that the overall early melting of the lunar surface is not necessary for the explanation of facts and that the structure of highlands is more complicated than a solidified anorthositic ‘plot’. The early heating of the interior of the Moon up to 1000K is really needed for the subsequent thermal history with the maximum melting 3.5 × 10⁹ yr ago, to give the observed ages for mare basalts. This may be considered as an indication that the Moon during the accumulation retained a portion of its gravitational energy converted into heat, which may occur only at rapid processes. A rapid (t < 10³ yr) accretion of the Moon from the circumterrestrial swarm of small particles would give necessary temperature, but it is not compatible with the characteristic time 10⁸ yr of the replenishment of this swarm which is the same as the time-scale of the accumulation of the Earth. It is shown that there were conditions in the circumterrestial swarm for the formation at a first stage of a few large protomoons. Their number and position is evaluated from the simple formal laws of the growth of satellites in the vicinity of a planet. Such ‘systems’ of protomoons are compared with the observed multiple systems, and the conclusion is reached that there could have been not more than 2–3 large protomoons with the Earth. The tidal evolution of protomoon orbits was short not only for the present value of the tidal phase-lag but also for a considerably smaller value. The coalescence of protomoons into a single Moon had to occur before the formation of the observed relief on the Moon. If we accept the age 3.9 × 10⁹ yr for the excavation of the Imbrium basin and ascribe the latter to the impact of an Earth satellite, this collision had to be roughly at 30R, whereR is the radius of the Earth, because the Moon at that time had to be somewhere at this distance. Therefore, the protomoons had to be orbiting inside 20–25R, and their coalescence had to occur more than 4.0x10⁹ yr ago. The energy release at coalescence is equivalent to several hundred degrees and even 1000 K. The process is very rapid (of the order of one hour). Therefore, the model is valid for the initial conditions of the Moon.     

Mineralogy of northern nearside mare basalts

The mineralogy of mare basalts reflects the chemical composition of the magma source, as well as the physical and chemical environment of the rocks' formation. This is significant for understanding the thermal evolution of the Moon. In this study, the spatial distribution of mineralogy on the lunar northern nearside basalts was mapped using the Moon Mineralogy Mapper(M^3) data. The study area, which is an elongated mare, Mare Frigoris and northern Mare Imbrium, was mapped and characterized into 27 units based on multi-source data, including spectrum, terrain and element abundance. We extracted 177 M^3 spectra from fresh craters. Spectral parameters such as absorption center and band area ratio(BAR)were obtained through data processing. The variation of mafic minerals in this region was acquired by analyzing these parameters. The basaltic units in eastern Mare Frigoris, which are older, have been found to be dominated by clinopyroxene with lower CaO compared to the returned lunar samples; this is similar to older basaltic units in Mare Imbrium. The basaltic units of western Mare Frigoris and Sinus Roris which are younger have been found to be rich in olivine. The late-stage basalts in Oceanus Procellarum and Mare Imbrium show the same feature. These widespread olivine-rich basalts suggest uniqueness in the evolution of the Moon. Geographically speaking, Mare Frigoris is an individual mare, but the magma source region has connections with surrounding maria in consideration of mineral differences between western and eastern Frigoris, as well as mineral similarities with maria at the same location.     

The moon after Apollo

The Apollo missions have gradually increased our knowledge of the Moon's chemistry, age, and mode of formation of its surface features and materials Apollo 11 and 12 landings proved that mare materials are volcanic rocks that were derived from deep-seated basaltic melts about 3.7 and 3.2 billion years ago, respectively. Later missions provided additional information on lunar mare basalts as well as the older, anorthositic, highland rocks. Data on the chemical make-up of returned samples were extended to larger areas of the Moon by orbiting geochemical experiments. These have also mapped inhomogeneities in lunar surface chemistry, including radioactive anomalies on both the near and far sides.Lunar samples and photographs indicate that the moon is a well-preserved museum of ancient impact scars. The crust of the Moon, which was formed about 4.6 billion years ago, was subjected to intensive metamorphism by large impacts. Although bombardment continues to the present day, the rate and size of impacting bodies were much greater in the first 0.7 billion years of the Moon's history. The last of the large, circular, multiringed basins occurred about 3.9 billion years ago. These basins, many of which show positive gravity anomalies (mascons), were flooded by volcanic basalts during a period of at least 600 million years. In addition to filling the circular basins, more so on the near side than on the far side, the basalts also covered lowlands and circum-basin troughs.Profiles of the outer lunar skin were constructed from the mapping camera system, including the laser altimeter, and the radar sounder data. Materials of the crust, according to the lunar seismic data, extend to the depth of about 65 km on the near side, probably more on the far side. The mantle which underlies the crust probably extends to about 1100 km depth. It is also probable that a molten or partially molten zone or core underlies the mantle, where interactions between both may cause the deep-seated moonquakes.The three basic theories of lunar origin—capture, fission, and binary accretion—are still competing for first place. The last seems to be the most popular of the three at this time; it requires the least number of assumptions in placing the Moon in Earth orbit, and simply accounts for the chemical differences between the two bodies. Although the question of origin has not yet been resolved, we are beginning to see the value of interdisciplinary synthesis of Apollo scientific returns. During the next few years we should begin to reap the fruits of attempts at this synthesis. Then, we may be fortunate enough to take another look at the Moon from the proposed Lunar Polar Orbit (LPO) mission in about 1979.     

Lunar Water: A Brief Review

One of the most exciting recent developments in the field of lunar science has been the unambiguous detection of water (either as OH or H₂O) or water ice on the Moon through instruments flown on a number of orbiting spacecraft missions. At the same time, continued laboratory-based investigations of returned lunar samples by Apollo missions using high-precision, low-detection, analytical instruments have for the first time, provided the absolute abundance of water (present mostly as structurally bound OH⁻ in mineral phases) in lunar samples. These new results suggest that the Moon is not an anhydrous body, questioning conventional wisdom, and indicating the possibility of a wet lunar interior and the presence of distinct reservoirs of water on the lunar surface. However, not all recent results point to a wet Moon and it appears that the distribution of water on the Moon may be highly heterogeneous. Additionally, a number of sources are likely to have contributed to the water inventory of the Moon ranging from primordial water to meteorite-derived water ice through to the water formed during the reaction of solar-wind hydrogen with the lunar soil. Water on the Moon has implications for future astrobiological investigations as well as for generating resources in situ during future exploration of the Moon and other airless bodies in the Solar System.     

The residual permanent magnetic dipole moment of the moon

The residual dipole moment of the outer spherical shell of the Moon, magnetized in the field of an internal dipole is calculated for the case when the permeability of the shell differs from unity. It is shown that, using an average value of surface magnetization from returned lunar crystalline rock samples and a global figure for the lunar permeability of 1.012, that a residual moment of the order of 10¹⁵ to 10¹⁶ Am² is expected. This value is some two or three orders of magnitude lower than the moment for a shell magnetized in an external uniform field and is of the same order as the upper limit of the residual moment detected by Russellet al. (1974). At present the magnetic data and the thermal state of the Moon are not known with sufficient accuracy to distinguish between a crust magnetized in an internal dipole field of constant polarity and a crust magnetized in the dipole field of a self-reversing core dynamo. Refined measurements of the relevant parameters together with the theory presented in this paper could enable these two possibilities to be distinguished.