Classification of lunar terranes using neutron and thorium gamma-ray data

Conference · Thu Apr 01 04:00:00 EST 1999

OSTI ID:334320

Feldman, W C; Lawrence, D J; Elphic, R C; Barraclough, B L ^[1]; Maurice, S ^[2]; Binder, A B ^[3]; Lucey, P G ^[4]

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1. Los Alamos National Lab., NM (United States)
2. Observatoire Midi-Pyrenees, Toulouse (France)
3. Lunar Research Inst., Gilroy, CA (United States)
4. Univ. of Hawaii, Manoa, HI (United States). Hawaii Inst. of Geophysics and Planetology

A major scientific goal of the Lunar Prospector (LP) gamma-ray and neutron spectrometers is to classify all lunar terranes according to composition. A preliminary analysis of early data indicates this goal will be met for the major rock-forming elements on a spatial scale of about 200 km. The low-altitude phase of LP now in progress should allow reduction of this scale by about a factor of 10 for those elements that have sufficiently high measurable fluxes relative to their backgrounds. Most promising are the flux intensities of thermal, epithermal, and fast neutrons (which each average about 300 counts per 50 km of ground track) and 2.6 MeV gamma rays from thorium (which averages about 50 counts per 50 km of ground track). The authors therefore explore the information content of these measurables to classify the various lunar terrane types.

• Research Organization: Los Alamos National Lab., NM (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE, Washington, DC (United States)
• DOE Contract Number: W-7405-ENG-36
• OSTI ID: 334320
• Report Number(s): LA-UR--99-520; CONF-990303--; ON: DE99002216
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

66 PHYSICS
CHEMICAL COMPOSITION
CLASSIFICATION
ELEMENT ABUNDANCE
GAMMA SPECTROMETERS
MOON
NEUTRON SPECTROMETERS
THORIUM