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Lunar meteorite Queen Alexandra Range 93069 and the iron concentration of the lunar highlands surface
Author(s) -
KOROTEV Randy L.,
JOLLIFF Bradley L.,
ROCKOW Kaylynn M.
Publication year - 1996
Publication title -
meteoritics and planetary science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.09
H-Index - 100
eISSN - 1945-5100
pISSN - 1086-9379
DOI - 10.1111/j.1945-5100.1996.tb02124.x
Subject(s) - meteorite , breccia , geology , lunar mare , regolith , geochemistry , basalt , achondrite , geology of the moon , pigeonite , astrobiology , mineralogy , chondrite , plagioclase , augite , paleontology , quartz , physics
— Lunar meteorite Queen Alexandra Range 93069 is a clast‐rich, glassy‐matrix regolith breccia of ferroan, highly aluminous bulk composition. It is similar in composition to other feldspathic lunar meteorites but differs in having higher concentrations of siderophile elements and incompatible trace elements. Based on electron microprobe analyses of the fusion crust, glassy matrix, and clasts, and instrumental neutron activation analysis of breccia fragments, QUE 93069 is dominated by nonmare components of ferroan, noriticanorthosite bulk composition. Thin section QUE 93069,31 also contains a large, impact‐melted, partially devitrified clast of magnesian, anorthositic‐norite composition. The enrichment in Fe, Sc, and Cr and lower Mg/Fe ratio of lunar meteorites Yamato 791197 and Yamato 82192/3 compared to other feldspathic lunar meteorites can be attributed to a small proportion (5–10%) of low‐Ti mare basalt. It is likely that the nonmare components of Yamato 82192/3 are similar to and occur in similar abundance to those of Yamato 86032, with which it is paired. There is a significant difference between the average FeO concentration of the lunar highlands surface as inferred from the feldspathic lunar meteorites (mean: ∼5.0%; range: 4.3–6.1%) and a recent estimate based on data from the Clementine mission (3.6%).