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Chronology of alkali anorthosite 14304 clast “b” records basin forming impact at ~3.95 Ga

Journal Article · · Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta
 [1];  [1];  [1];  [1];  [1];  [2];  [3]
  1. Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States)
  2. Univ. of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM (United States); Lunar and Planetary Institute, Houston, TX
  3. Univ. of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM (United States)

Alkali-suite rocks constitute one of three major suites of lunar crustal rocks. As such, constraining their formation timescales and petrogenesis is important for understanding the earliest magmatic history of the Moon. However, the magmatic history of alkali-suite rocks is partly obscured by superimposed effects of major basin-forming impact events on the lunar nearside. Consequently, unambiguous crystallization ages of samples from this suite of rocks have not been determined. Here, the aim of this study is to better understand the petrogenetic history of the alkali-suite and the potential superimposed effects of impact metamorphism by determining Sm-Nd, Rb-Sr, and 40Ar/39Ar ages for an alkali anorthosite clast from Apollo 14 lithic breccia 14304 termed clast “b”. The new chronologic measurements of clast “b” yield concordant Sm-Nd, Rb-Sr, and 40Ar/39Ar ages of 3947 ± 13 Ma, 3975 ± 34 Ma, and 3937 ± 37 Ma respectively, resulting in a weighted mean age of 3949 ± 11 Ma. This age is not interpreted to date an igneous event related to production of the lunar highlands crust and instead the chronology and petrography of clast “b” are most readily explained by an impact event at ~3.95 Ga that caused near-complete isotopic re-equilibration of the Sm-Nd, Rb-Sr, and 40Ar/39Ar chronometers. The weighted mean age of 3949 ± 11 Ma of clast “b” is several hundred Ma younger than 4.3–4.4 Ga ages typically determined for samples of other crustal rock suites but in very good agreement with independent estimates for the formation of Imbrium basin ejecta and other marginally older impact events which are thought to have been sampled at the Apollo 14 landing site. Thus, although petrologic and geochemical examination suggest that clast “b” is a pristine igneous clast, its age likely records an impact event at the Apollo 14 landing site. Whereas the various determined ages of clast “b” do not reflect the timescales of alkali-suite magmatism, the relatively low initial Sr and Nd isotopic compositions of clast “b” indicate that its protolith evolved with very low 147Sm/144Nd and 87Rb/86Sr that are distinct from estimates for urKREEP but similar to that of lunar plagioclase. This implies that the igneous protolith of clast “b” derived from a plagioclase-dominated KREEP-rich source that must have formed after the formation of the urKREEP source at ~4.35 Ga but well before the impact event recorded by clast “b” at ~3.95 Ga.

Research Organization:
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA); USDOE Laboratory Directed Research and Development (LDRD) Program; National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)
Grant/Contract Number:
AC52-07NA27344
OSTI ID:
1996474
Alternate ID(s):
OSTI ID: 1995602
Report Number(s):
LLNL-JRNL-844335; 1067661
Journal Information:
Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, Journal Name: Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta Vol. 358; ISSN 0016-7037
Publisher:
Elsevier; The Geochemical Society; The Meteoritical SocietyCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

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