Charged-particle track analysis, thermoluminescence and microcratering studies of lunar samples

1977 ◽  
Vol 285 (1327) ◽  
pp. 309-317 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Storage Temperature ◽  
Lunar Regolith ◽  
Lunar Soil ◽  
Heavy Ion ◽  
Abundance Ratio ◽  
Temperature Cycle ◽  
The Moon ◽  
Lunar Samples ◽  
History Of ◽  
Track Analysis

Studies of lunar samples (from both Apollo and Luna missions) have been carried out, using the track analysis and thermoluminescence (t.l.) techniques, with a view to shedding light on the radiation and temperature histories of the Moon. In addition, microcraters in lunar glasses have been studied in order to elucidate the cosmic-dust impact history of the lunar regolith. In track studies, the topics discussed include the stabilizing effect of the thermal annealing of fossil tracks due to the lunar temperature cycle; the ‘radiation annealing’ of fresh heavy-ion tracks by large doses of protons (to simulate the effect of lunar radiation-damage on track registration); and correction factors for the anisotropic etching of crystals which are required in reconstructing the exposure history of lunar grains. An abundance ratio of ca. (1.1 + 0.3) x 10-3 has been obtained, by the differential annealing technique, for the nuclei beyond the iron group to those within that group in the cosmic rays incident on the Moon. The natural t.l. of lunar samples has been used to estimate their effective storage temperature and mean depth below the surface. A suite of samples from known depths in an artificial trench at the Apollo 17 site has been used to calculate the effective thermal conductivity and thermal wavelength of overlying lunar soil at various depths. The temperatures in the shadow of some Apollo 17 boulders, and the duration of the boulders’ presence in situ, have also been estimated from samples which have been kept refrigerated since their retrieval from the Moon. Natural and artificially produced microcraters have been studied with the following two main results : The dust-particle flux appears to have fallen off over a certain period of ca. 104-105 years (if the solar activity is assumed to be constant over that interval). Stones predominate in the large { ca . 2-10 um) diameter intervals, while irons outnumber stones at low diameters (ca . 1.0 um), in the micrometeorite flux incident on the Moon.

scholarly journals Does the lunar regolith contain secrets of the Solar System? Using the Moon as a cosmic witness plate

2009 ◽  
Vol 5 (S264) ◽  
pp. 475-477 ◽  
Author(s):  
David S. McKay ◽  
Louise Riofrio ◽  
Bonnie L. Cooper
Keyword(s):  
Solar System ◽  
Lunar Regolith ◽  
Lunar Soil ◽  
The Moon ◽  
System A ◽  
The Earth ◽  
Radiation History ◽  
History Of ◽  
Time Capsule ◽  
The Impact

AbstractThe lunar regolith (soil) has recorded a history of the early Moon, the Earth, and the entire solar system. A major goal of the developing lunar exploration program should be to find and play back existing fragments of that tape. By playing back the lunar tape, we can uncover a record of planetary bombardment, as well as solar and stellar variability. The Moon can tell us much about our place in the solar system and in the Universe. The lunar regolith has likely recorded the original meteoritic bombardment of Earth and Moon, a violent cataclysm that may have peaked around 4 GY, and the less intense bombardment occurring since that time. Decrease in bombardment allowed life to develop on Earth. This impact history is preserved as megaregolith layers, ejecta layers, impact melt rocks, and ancient impact breccias. The impact history for the Earth and Moon possibly had profound effects on the origin and development of life. Life may have arrived via meteorite transport from a more quiet body, such as Mars. The solar system may have experienced bursts of severe radiation from the Sun, other stars or from unknown sources. The lunar regolith has also recorded a radiation history in the form of implanted and trapped solar wind and solar flare materials and radiation damage. The Moon can be considered as a giant tape recorder containing the history of the solar system. Lunar soil generated by small impacts will be found sandwiched between layers of basalt or pyroclastic deposits. This filling constitutes a buried time capsule that is likely to contain well-preserved ancient regolith. Study of such samples will show us how the solar system has evolved and changed over time. The lunar recording can provide detailed snapshots of specific portions of solar and stellar variability.

scholarly journals Constraining the Evolutionary History of the Moon and the Inner Solar System: A Case for New Returned Lunar Samples

2019 ◽  
Vol 215 (8) ◽  
Author(s):  
Romain Tartèse ◽  
Mahesh Anand ◽  
Jérôme Gattacceca ◽  
Katherine H. Joy ◽  
James I. Mortimer ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Solar System ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Lunar Regolith ◽  
The Moon ◽  
Planetary Body ◽  
The Past ◽  
Lunar Samples ◽  
History Of ◽  
Magma Oceans ◽  
Robotic Missions

AbstractThe Moon is the only planetary body other than the Earth for which samples have been collected in situ by humans and robotic missions and returned to Earth. Scientific investigations of the first lunar samples returned by the Apollo 11 astronauts 50 years ago transformed the way we think most planetary bodies form and evolve. Identification of anorthositic clasts in Apollo 11 samples led to the formulation of the magma ocean concept, and by extension the idea that the Moon experienced large-scale melting and differentiation. This concept of magma oceans would soon be applied to other terrestrial planets and large asteroidal bodies. Dating of basaltic fragments returned from the Moon also showed that a relatively small planetary body could sustain volcanic activity for more than a billion years after its formation. Finally, studies of the lunar regolith showed that in addition to containing a treasure trove of the Moon’s history, it also provided us with a rich archive of the past 4.5 billion years of evolution of the inner Solar System. Further investigations of samples returned from the Moon over the past five decades led to many additional discoveries, but also raised new and fundamental questions that are difficult to address with currently available samples, such as those related to the age of the Moon, duration of lunar volcanism, the lunar paleomagnetic field and its intensity, and the record on the Moon of the bombardment history during the first billion years of evolution of the Solar System. In this contribution, we review the information we currently have on some of the key science questions related to the Moon and discuss how future sample-return missions could help address important knowledge gaps.

Research of Formed Lunar Regholit Analog AGK-2010 / Badania wytworzonego analogu gruntu księżycowego AGK-2010

2013 ◽  
Vol 58 (2) ◽  
pp. 551-556
Author(s):  
Stanisław Bednarz ◽  
Mirosław Rzyczniak ◽  
Andrzej Gonet ◽  
Karol Seweryn
Keyword(s):  
Grain Size ◽  
Shear Strength ◽  
Oil And Gas ◽  
Lunar Regolith ◽  
Lunar Soil ◽  
Research Centre ◽  
Mechanical Parameters ◽  
The Moon ◽  
The Cost ◽  
Academy Of Sciences

The results investigations of a soil having similar properties as lunar regolith performed at the Department of Drilling and Geoengineering, Faculty of Drilling, Oil and Gas, AGH University of Science and Technology in Kraków are presented in this paper. The research was carried out jointly with the Space Research Centre, Polish Academy of Sciences in Warsaw. The objective of the cooperation was to minimize the cost of tests of penetrator KRET, which will be used on the surface of the Moon. The American lunar regolith (e.g. CHENOBI) was used as reference soil. The most important properties were presented graphically in the form of figures and tables: grain size distribution, selected physical properties (bulk density, colour), selected mechanical parameters (shear strength, inner friction strength, cohesion). As a result the first Polish lunar soil analog AGK-2010 was produced.

scholarly journals Volcanic history of the Imbrium basin: A close-up view from the lunar rover Yutu

2015 ◽  
Vol 112 (17) ◽  
pp. 5342-5347 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jinhai Zhang ◽  
Wei Yang ◽  
Sen Hu ◽  
Yangting Lin ◽  
Guangyou Fang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Lunar Regolith ◽  
Landing Site ◽  
Lunar Soil ◽  
Lunar Rover ◽  
Surface Exploration ◽  
Mantle Reservoir ◽  
History Of ◽  
Radar Measurements ◽  
Residual Melt

We report the surface exploration by the lunar rover Yutu that landed on the young lava flow in the northeastern part of the Mare Imbrium, which is the largest basin on the nearside of the Moon and is filled with several basalt units estimated to date from 3.5 to 2.0 Ga. The onboard lunar penetrating radar conducted a 114-m-long profile, which measured a thickness of ∼5 m of the lunar regolith layer and detected three underlying basalt units at depths of 195, 215, and 345 m. The radar measurements suggest underestimation of the global lunar regolith thickness by other methods and reveal a vast volume of the last volcano eruption. The in situ spectral reflectance and elemental analysis of the lunar soil at the landing site suggest that the young basalt could be derived from an ilmenite-rich mantle reservoir and then assimilated by 10–20% of the last residual melt of the lunar magma ocean.

Electron Microprobe Analysis of Returned Lunar Samples

1970 ◽  
Vol 28 ◽  
pp. 18-19
Author(s):  
Klaus Keil
Keyword(s):  
Electron Microprobe ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Microprobe Analysis ◽  
Electron Microprobe Analysis ◽  
The Moon ◽  
Lunar Samples ◽  
Lower Oxygen ◽  
History Of ◽  
Non Destructive ◽  
Origin Of The Moon

The principle of the electron microprobe analyzer is explained and the special advantages of the technique in the study of returned lunar samples is discussed. Emphasis is given to non-destructive in-situ quantitative elemental analysis of micron-sized volumes. Results of electron microprobe analyses of rocks, and fines returned to Earth by the Apollo 11 and 12 missions are presented. Data that have significance to hypotheses on the origin and history of the lunar surface in the vicinity of the Apollo 11 and 12 landing sites and the Moon as a whole are given. Evidence is presented for differentiation of the Moon on a large scale, internal melting, absence of hydrous phases, lower oxygen fugacities as compared to terrestrial rocks, impact origin of fines and breccias, and high age near 4.5 billion years. Existing models for the origin of the Moon are discussed in the light of the data obtained by electron microprobe analysis, and it is concluded that neither the fission model nor the classical chondritic model can adequately explain the origin of the Moon.

scholarly journals Understanding the origin and evolution of water in the Moon through lunar sample studies

2014 ◽  
Vol 372 (2024) ◽  
pp. 20130254 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mahesh Anand ◽  
Romain Tartèse ◽  
Jessica J. Barnes
Keyword(s):  
Lunar Soil ◽  
The Moon ◽  
Origin And Evolution ◽  
Water Abundance ◽  
Water Ice ◽  
Lunar Interior ◽  
Lunar Samples ◽  
Future Challenges ◽  
Unambiguous Detection ◽  
Ocean Ridge

A paradigm shift has recently occurred in our knowledge and understanding of water in the lunar interior. This has transpired principally through continued analysis of returned lunar samples using modern analytical instrumentation. While these recent studies have undoubtedly measured indigenous water in lunar samples they have also highlighted our current limitations and some future challenges that need to be overcome in order to fully understand the origin, distribution and evolution of water in the lunar interior. Another exciting recent development in the field of lunar science has been the unambiguous detection of water or water ice on the surface of the Moon through instruments flown on a number of orbiting spacecraft missions. Considered together, sample-based studies and those from orbit strongly suggest that the Moon is not an anhydrous planetary body, as previously believed. New observations and measurements support the possibility of a wet lunar interior and the presence of distinct reservoirs of water on the lunar surface. Furthermore, an approach combining measurements of water abundance in lunar samples and its hydrogen isotopic composition has proved to be of vital importance to fingerprint and elucidate processes and source(s) involved in giving rise to the lunar water inventory. 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. Perhaps two of the most striking findings from these recent studies are the revelation that at least some portions of the lunar interior are as water-rich as some Mid-Ocean Ridge Basalt source regions on Earth and that the water in the Earth and the Moon probably share a common origin.

A long term change in the cosmic ray composition?: studies on fossil cosmic ray tracks in lunar samples

1977 ◽  
Vol 285 (1327) ◽  
pp. 593-599 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Composition Studies ◽  
Cosmic Ray ◽  
Lunar Soil ◽  
Abundance Ratio ◽  
Group V ◽  
Term Change ◽  
Lunar Samples ◽  
Lunar Rocks ◽  
Galactic Cosmic Ray

The etching techniques for the identification of very heavy cosmic ray ions from their etchable tracks in mineral track detectors are described and the results so far obtained for the ancient galactic cosmic ray Cr group (V + Cr + Mn) to Fe abundance ratio are presented. It was found that the etchable radiation damage of fossil cosmic ray tracks has probably only been slightly affected by annealing processes. The track data obtained on pyroxenes of different lunar rocks and on pyroxenes and feldspars, i.e. detectors of different track retaining characteristics, yielded consistent results. From this measurements, an ancient Cr group to Fe ratio of approximately 0.7- 0.8 was deduced. In comparison with the present day galactic cosmic ray composition, this ratio is enhanced by a factor of about two. From the track data obtained in different lunar soil samples it was concluded that a variation in the Gr group to Fe ratio between 0.4- 0.8 exists. Both results indicate, that either a long term change in the cosmic ray composition has taken place or the interpretation of track data is much more complicated than assumed.

Comparative chemical history of the Earth, the Moon and parent body of achondrite

1977 ◽  
Vol 285 (1327) ◽  
pp. 55-67 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Major Elements ◽  
Parent Body ◽  
Chemical Fractionation ◽  
The Moon ◽  
Molten Layer ◽  
The Earth ◽  
Lunar Samples ◽  
History Of ◽  
Chemical History ◽  
Major Chemical

Chronological studies on the lunar samples suggest that major chemical fractionation occurred at 4.4 Ga. It is inferred from both whole-rock Rb-Sr isochron and Nd-Sm systematics. It is stressed that any models on the lunar petrogenesis and evolution should reconcile with this early fractionation. A model for chemical evolution of the Moon (extensive fractional crystallization of a molten layer, followed by impact melting and mixing of melts) is discussed to account for phase relations and r.e.e. abundances. Similar chronological characteristics are observed for achondrite parent body. Achondrite parent body experienced a similar evolutionary history to the Moon starting with a slightly different initial composition (major elements). In the Earth, on the contrary, chemical differentiation has continued (or is still continuing) as indicated by chronological and isotopic evidence.

scholarly journals ASSESSMENT OF THE QUALITY OF LUNAR SAMPLES

ASJ. ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 1 (45) ◽  
pp. 25-29
Author(s):  
A. Gavrishin ◽  
A. Coradini
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Chemical Composition ◽  
Quality Assessment ◽  
Chemical Elements ◽  
Lunar Regolith ◽  
Lunar Soil ◽  
The United States ◽  
Lunar Samples ◽  
First Time

The aim of the research is to assess the reproducibility of analyses of the chemical composition of lunar samples and to study the quality of lunar regolith. As a result of the space expeditions "Moon" and "Apollo" performed by the USSR and the United States, numerous lunar samples were delivered to Earth. This paper explores two aspects of assessing the quality of lunar samples. 1) Reproducibility of analyses. Assessment of errors of determining the concentrations of chemical elements in lunar samples. 2) Assessment of the quality of the lunar regolith by the magnitude of the differences with the composition of the earth's soil (geoecological quality assessment). Geoecological assessment of the quality of the composition of the lunar regolith was made for the first time. Comparison of the chemical composition of the regolith delivered by the Luna-16 space expedition with the composition of terrestrial soils at concentrations of 30 elements has been made. It is determined that the lunar soil in the concentrations of many elements is significantly different from the earths. The geoecological situation is rated as a "crisis". 

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