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KREEP, an acronym built from the letters K, REE and P, is a geochemical component of some lunar impact breccia and basaltic rocks. Its most significant feature is somewhat enhanced concentration of a majority of so-called "incompatible" elements and the heat-producing elements, namely radioactive uranium, thorium, and potassium.
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Impactite is rock created or modified by one or more impacts of a meteorite. Impactites are considered metamorphic rock, because their source materials were modified by the heat and pressure of the impact. On Earth, impactites consist primarily of modified terrestrial material, sometimes with pieces of the original meteorite.
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The geology of the Moon is quite different from that of Earth. The Moon lacks a true atmosphere, and the absence of free oxygen and water eliminates erosion due to weather. Instead, the surface is eroded much more slowly through the bombardment of the lunar surface by micrometeorites. It does not have any known form of plate tectonics, it has a lower gravity, and because of its small size, it cooled faster. In addition to impacts, the geomorphology of the lunar surface has been shaped by volcanism, which is now thought to have ended less than 50 million years ago. The Moon is a differentiated body, with a crust, mantle, and core.
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Lunar Sample 14321, better known as "Big Bertha", is a lunar sample containing an embedded Earth-origin meteorite collected on the 1971 Apollo 14 mission. It was found in the Fra Mauro region of the Moon. Big Bertha is the first discovered meteorite from Earth, and the embedded meteorite portion is the oldest known Earth rock. At 8.998 kg (19.84 lb), this breccia rock is the third largest Moon sample returned during the Apollo program, behind Big Muley and Great Scott.
Ghislaine Crozaz is a cosmochemist known for her research on the early history of the solar system through tracking trace elements in meteorites.
Yoshiokaite, a mineral formed as shocked crystal fragments in devitrified glass, was discovered in lunar regolith breccia collected from a trench by the Apollo 14 crew in 1971. Although there have been other minerals that have been originally discovered on the Moon, yoshiokaite is the first new mineral with origin related to lunar highlands. Yoshiokaite is considered to be a member of the feldspathoid group.
References
- 1 2 3 4 5 Meteoritical Bulletin Database: Yamato 791197
- ↑ Cassidy, William A. (2003). Meteorites, Ice, and Antarctica. Cambridge University Press. p. 186.
- ↑ Korotev, Randy L. "Lunar Meteorite: Yamato 791197". Washington University in St. Louis, Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences. Retrieved 2011-11-15.
- ↑ "Lunar Meteorite: Yamato 791197 | Some Meteorite Information | Washington University in St. Louis". sites.wustl.edu. Retrieved 2024-08-04.
- ↑ Ostertag, R.; et al. (1985). "Lunar meteorite Yamato 791197: a weakly shocked regolith breccia from the far side of the Moon". Lunar and Planetary Science. XVI/3: 635–636. Bibcode:1985LPI....16..635O.