Curtin University Homepage
  • Library
  • Help
    • Admin

    espace - Curtin’s institutional repository

    JavaScript is disabled for your browser. Some features of this site may not work without it.
    View Item 
    • espace Home
    • espace
    • Curtin Research Publications
    • View Item
    • espace Home
    • espace
    • Curtin Research Publications
    • View Item

    Impact history of the Apollo 17 landing site revealed by U-Pb SIMS ages

    Access Status
    Fulltext not available
    Authors
    Thiessen, F.
    Nemchin, Alexander
    Snape, J.
    Whitehouse, M.
    Bellucci, J.
    Date
    2017
    Type
    Journal Article
    
    Metadata
    Show full item record
    Citation
    Thiessen, F. and Nemchin, A. and Snape, J. and Whitehouse, M. and Bellucci, J. 2017. Impact history of the Apollo 17 landing site revealed by U-Pb SIMS ages. Meteoritics and Planetary Science. 52 (4): pp. 584-611.
    Source Title
    Meteoritics and Planetary Science
    DOI
    10.1111/maps.12814
    ISSN
    1086-9379
    School
    Department of Applied Geology
    URI
    http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/53976
    Collection
    • Curtin Research Publications
    Abstract

    Secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS) U-Pb ages of Ca-phosphates from four texturally distinct breccia samples (72255, 76055, 76015, 76215) collected at the Apollo 17 landing site were obtained in an attempt to identify whether they represent a single or several impact event(s). The determined ages, combined with inferences from petrologic relationships, may indicate two or possibly three different impact events at 3920 ± 3 Ma, 3922 ± 5 Ma, and 3930 ± 5 Ma (all errors 2s). Searching for possible sources of the breccias by calculating the continuous ejecta radii of impact basins and large craters as well as their expected ejecta thicknesses, we conclude that Nectaris, Crisium, Serenitatis, and Imbrium are likely candidates. If the previous interpretation that the micropoikilitic breccias collected at the North Massif represent Serenitatis ejecta is correct, then the average 207Pb/206Pb age of 3930 ± 5 Ma (2s) dates the formation of the Serenitatis basin. The occurrence of zircon in the breccias sampled at the South Massif, which contain Ca-phosphates yielding an age of 3922 ± 5 Ma (2s), may indicate that the breccia originated from within the Procellarum KREEP terrane (PKT) and the Imbrium basin appears to be the only basin that could have sourced them. However, this interpretation implies that all basins suggested to fall stratigraphically between Serenitatis and Imbrium formed within a short (<11 Ma) time interval, highlighting serious contradictions between global stratigraphic constraints, sample interpretation, and chronological data. Alternatively, the slightly older age of the two micropoikilitic breccias may be a result of incomplete resetting of the U-Pb system preserved in some phosphate grains. Based on the currently available data set this possibility cannot be excluded.

    Related items

    Showing items related by title, author, creator and subject.

    • Complex magmatic and impact history prior to 4.1 Ga recorded in zircon from Apollo 17 South Massif aphanitic breccia 73235
      Grange, Marion; Nemchin, Alexander; Timms, Nicholas Eric; Pidgeon, Robert; Meyer, C. (2011)
      Sample 73235 is one of several aphanitic impact melt breccias collected by the Apollo 17 mission at stations 2 and 3 on the slopes of the South Massif. This study presents a detailed investigation of internal structures ...
    • Phosphate ages in Apollo 14 breccias: Resolving multiple impact events with high precision U-Pb SIMS analyses
      Snape, J.; Nemchin, Alexander; Grange, Marion; Bellucci, J.; Thiessen, F.; Whitehouse, M. (2016)
      © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. The U-Pb systems of apatite and merrillite grains within four separate Apollo 14 impact melt breccia samples were analysed by secondary ion mass spectrometry. No systematic difference was identified ...
    • Thermal history recorded by the Apollo 17 impact melt breccia 73217
      Grange, Marion; Nemchin, Alexander; Pidgeon, Robert; Timms, Nicholas Eric; Muhling, J.; Kennedy, Allen (2009)
      Lunar breccia 73217 is composed of plagioclase and pyroxene clasts originating from a single gabbronorite intrusion, mixed with a silica-rich glass interpreted to represent an impact melt. A study of accessory minerals ...
    Advanced search

    Browse

    Communities & CollectionsIssue DateAuthorTitleSubjectDocument TypeThis CollectionIssue DateAuthorTitleSubjectDocument Type

    My Account

    Admin

    Statistics

    Most Popular ItemsStatistics by CountryMost Popular Authors

    Follow Curtin

    • 
    • 
    • 
    • 
    • 

    CRICOS Provider Code: 00301JABN: 99 143 842 569TEQSA: PRV12158

    Copyright | Disclaimer | Privacy statement | Accessibility

    Curtin would like to pay respect to the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander members of our community by acknowledging the traditional owners of the land on which the Perth campus is located, the Whadjuk people of the Nyungar Nation; and on our Kalgoorlie campus, the Wongutha people of the North-Eastern Goldfields.