Kreep minerals and the origin of luny rock — 1

Luny Rock — 1, dated at 4.44 × 10⁹ yr by Albee and Chodos (1970), is one of a number of norite fragments rich in potassium, rare-earth elements and phosphorus (KREEP) found in the Apollo 11 and 12 soils. This rock type can be fitted into a modification of J. A. Wood's and A. E. Ringwood's models for the early evolution of the lunar crust as a layer between the overlying anorthosites and the mantle pyroxenites. Impact cratering of the lunar surface has removed the anorthosites and norites and added them to the lunar regolith in the form of both lithic fragments and glassy spheres.Paper presented at the NATO Advanced Study Institute on Lunar Studies, Patras, Greece, September 1971.