Abstract
The principal chemical element composition and inferred mineralogy of the powdered lunar surface material at seven mare and one terra sites on the Moon are compared. The mare compositions are all similar to one another and comparable to those of terrestrial ocean ridge basalts except in having higher titanium and much lower sodium contents than the latter. These analyses suggest that most, if not all, lunar maria have this chemical composition and are derived from rocks with an average density of 3.19 g cm−3. Mare Tranquillitatis differs from the other maria in having twice the titanium content of the others.
The chemical composition of the single highland site studied (Surveyor 7) is distinctly different from that of any of the maria in having much lower amounts of titanium and iron and larger amounts of aluminium and calcium. Confirmation of these general characteristics of lunar highland material has come from recent observations by the Apollo 15 Orbiter. The inferred mineralogy is 45 mole percent high anorthite plagioclase and the parent rocks have an estimated density of 2.94 g cm−3. The Surveyor 7 chemical composition is the principal contributor to present estimates of the overall chemical composition of the lunar surface.
Article PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
Avoid common mistakes on your manuscript.
References
Adler, I., Trombka, J., Gerard, Lowman, Yin, Blodgett, Gorenstein and Bjorkholm: 1972, ‘Preliminary Results from the S-161 X-Ray Fluorescence Experiment’, Third Lunar Science Conference, Houston, Texas, 10–13 January, unpublished proceedings.
Anderson, A. T., Jr. and Smith, J. V.: 1971,Proceedings of the Second Lunar Science Conference, Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta, Suppl. I, 431–38.
Economou, T. E., Turkevich, A. L., Sowinski, K. P., Patterson, J. H., and Franzgrote, E. J.: 1970,J. Geophys. Res. 75, 6514–23.
Franzgrote, E. J., Patterson, J. H., Turkevich, A. L., Economou, T. E., and Sowinski, K. P.: 1970,Science 167, 376–9.
Franzgrote, E. J.: 1971, inAdvances in X-Ray Analysis, Vol.15:Proceedings of the 20th Annual Conference on Applications of X-Ray Analysis, Denver, Colorado, August 1971, Plenum Press, 1972.
Ganapathy, R., Keays, R. R., Laul, J. C., and Anders, E.: 1970,Proceedings of the Apollo 11 Lunar Science Conference, Geochim. et Cosmochim. Acta, Suppl. I, 1117–42.
Jaffe, L. D.: 1969,Science 164, 774–88.
Kay, R., Hubbard, N. J., and Gast, P. W.: 1970,J. Geophys. Res. 75, 1585–1613.
Levinson, A. A.: 1970, (Ed.),Proceedings of the Apollo 11 Lunar Science Conference. Geochim. et Cosmochim. Acta, Suppl. I, Pergamon Press.
LSPET (Lunar Sample Preliminary Examination Team): 1969,Science 165, 1211–27.
LSPET (Lunar Sample Preliminary Examination Team): 1970,Science 167, 1325–39.
Lunokhod-I: 1971,A Mobile Laboratory on the Moon, Soviet volume distributed at the COSPAR Meeting, Seattle, 1971.
Michael, W. H. and Blackshear, W. T.: 1972,The Moon 3, 388.
Patterson, J. H., Franzgrote, E. J., Turkevich, A. L., Anderson, W. A., Economou, T. E., Griffin, H. E., Grotch, S. L., and Sowinski, K. P.: 1969,J. Geophys. Res. 74, 6120–48.
Patterson, J. H., Turkevich, A. L., Franzgrote, E. J., Economou, T. E., and Sowinski, K. P.: 1970,Science 163, 825–8.
Phinney, R. A., O'Keefe, J. A., Adams, J. B., Gault, D. E., Kuiper, G. P., Masursky, H., Collins, R. J., and Shoemaker, E. M.: 1969,J. Geophys. Res. 74, 6053–80.
Smith, J. V., Anderson, A. T., Newton, R. C., Olsen, E. J., Wyllie, P. J., Crewe, A. V., Isaacson, M. S., and Johnson, D.: 1970,Proceedings of the Apollo 11 Lunar Science Conference, Geochim. et Cosmochim. Acta, Suppl. I,7, 897–925.
Stefansson, K. and Sigurjonsson, J.: 1957, in Einarsson, Kjartansson and Forarinsson (eds.),The Eruption of Hekla, 1947–1948, Societas Scientarum Islandica,III, 2, 1–10; also Appendix by G. Porkelsson,ibid., 11.
Tera, F., Eugster, O., Burnett, D. S., and Wasserburg, G. J.: 1970,Proceedings of the Apollo 11 Lunar Science Conference, Geochim. et Cosmochim. Acta. Suppl. I, 1637–57.
Turkevich, A. L., Franzgrote, E.J., and Patterson, J. H.: 1967,Science 158, 635–7.
Turkevich, A. L., Patterson, J. H., and Franzgrote, E. J.: 1968a,Science 160, 1108–10.
Turkevich, A. L., Franzgrote, E. J., and Patterson, J. H.: 1968b,Science 162, 117–8.
Turkevich, A. L.: 1971,Proceedings of the Second Lunar Science Conference, Geochim. et Cosmochim. Acta, Suppl. II, 1209–15.
U.S.G.S.:1971, Report on Apollo 14 Mission and Samples, Interagency Report, No. 29.
Vinogradov, A. P.: 1971,Proceedings of the Second Lunar Science Conference, Geochim. et Cosmochim. Acta, Suppl. II, 1–16. See alsoNature 228, 492.
Wood, J. A.: 1970,J. Geophys. Res. 75, 6497–513.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Turkevich, A.L. Comparison of the analytical results from the surveyor, Apollo, and Luna missions. The Moon 5, 411–421 (1972). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00563091
Received:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00563091