Nature Geoscience<\/em>.<\/p>\nThe origins of volcanic lunar rocks<\/h3>\n This reaction took place in the deep lunar interior some three and a half billion years ago, involving the exchange of the element iron (Fe) in the magma with the element magnesium (Mg) in the surrounding rocks, modifying the chemical and physical properties of the melt.<\/p>\n
Tim Elliott, Professor of Earth Sciences at the University of Bristol and co-lead author of the study, said: \u201cThe origin of volcanic lunar rocks is a fascinating tale involving an \u2018avalanche\u2019 of an unstable, planetary-scale crystal pile created by the cooling of a primordial magma ocean.<\/p>\n
\u201cCentral to constraining this epic history is the presence of a magma type unique to the Moon, but explaining how such magmas could even have got to the surface, to be sampled by Space missions, has been a troublesome problem.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is great to have resolved this dilemma.\u201d<\/p>\n
High-Ti basalts are widespread on the Moon<\/h3>\n Surprisingly high concentrations of the element titanium (Ti) in parts of lunar rocks have been known since the NASA Apollo missions back in the 1960s and 1970s, which successfully returned solidified, ancient lava samples from the Moon\u2019s crust.<\/p>\n
More recent mapping by orbiting satellites shows these magmas, known as \u2018high-Ti basalts\u2019, to be widespread on the Moon.<\/p>\n
\u201cUntil now, models have been unable to recreate magma compositions that match essential chemical and physical characteristics of the high-Ti basalts,\u201d explained Dr Martijn Klaver, Research Fellow at the University of M\u00fcnster Institute of Mineralogy and co-lead author.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt has proven particularly hard to explain their low density, which allowed them to be erupted some three and a half billion years ago.\u201d<\/p>\n
The international team of scientists, led by the Universities of Bristol in the UK and M\u00fcnster in Germany managed to mimic the high-Ti basalts in the process in the lab using high-temperature experiments.<\/p>\n
Measurements of the high-Ti basalts also revealed a distinctive isotopic composition that provides a fingerprint of the reactions reproduced by the experiments.<\/p>\n
Both results clearly demonstrate how the melt-solid reaction is integral in understanding the formation of these unique magmas in lunar rocks.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The discovery explains the signature composition of lunar rocks and their presence on the lunar surface. Read more here.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":22,"featured_media":41837,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[771],"tags":[3477],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n
Research on lunar rocks solves missing pieces in the Moon\u2019s geology<\/title>\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n\t \n\t \n\t \n \n \n \n \n \n\t \n\t \n\t \n