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Composition from fast neutrons: Application to the Moon
Author(s) -
Gasnault Olivier,
Feldman William C.,
Maurice Sylvestre,
Genetay Isabelle,
d'Uston Claude,
Prettyman Thomas H.,
Moore Kurt R.
Publication year - 2001
Publication title -
geophysical research letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.007
H-Index - 273
eISSN - 1944-8007
pISSN - 0094-8276
DOI - 10.1029/2001gl013072
Subject(s) - lunar soil , neutron , atomic mass , soil water , geology of the moon , leakage (economics) , environmental science , physics , nuclear physics , geology , astrobiology , soil science , geochemistry , basalt , economics , macroeconomics
Planetary neutron leakage fluxes provide a measure of surface composition. However to be used in geological studies, a quantitative relationship between measured fluxes and surface composition is needed. The present work shows that neutron production is expected to be a function of the atomic mass, and that the fast leakage flux in the energy range between 0.6 and 8 MeV is linearly related to the average soil atomic mass. This result is consistent with laboratory measurements, and with Lunar Prospector observations of the Moon. When calibrated with returned lunar samples, this relationship is used to construct a map of the average atomic mass of lunar soils.