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A Compositional Study of the Lunar Global Megaregolith Using Clementine Orbiter Data

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A Compositional Study of the Lunar Global Megaregolith Using Clementine Orbiter Data UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN QUEENSLAND A COMPOSITIONAL STUDY OF THE LUNAR GLOBAL MEGAREGOLITH USING CLEMENTINE ORBITER DATA A dissertation submitted by Noel William Jackson B. App. Sc., Grad. Dip. (Remote Sensing), B. Sc. (Hons), M.Sc. For the award of Doctor of Philosophy Department of Biological and Physical Sciences University of Southern Queensland July 2005 i Abstract This thesis presents new information about the global megaregolith of the Moon, using 2059 craters (5 to 50 km diameter) as natural probes. Iron (FeO) and titanium (TiO2) concentrations were obtained from crater ejecta blanket data over an area between 600 North to 600 South latitude derived from the 1994 Clementine mission. The average iron and titanium weight percentages for lunar crater ejecta were calculated using the US Geological Survey’s ISIS software, and used to determine the variation with depth of iron (FeO) and titanium (TiO2) in the highlands, mare areas and the South Pole Aitken basin. In addition, megaregolith compositional Iron (FeO) and Titanium (TiO2) Maps and compositional Province Maps were generated, and studied in detail. The Lunar Megaregolith Iron Province Map divides the Highland areas into 2 distinct provinces of low-iron Highland I (0-3.7 FeO weight percentage) and low- medium level iron Highland II (3.8-6.4%), and the Mare and South Pole Aitken Basin each into 3 distinct provinces (6.5-9.7%, 9.8-13.6%, and 13.7-18.3%). Similarly, a Titanium Megaregolith Province Map divides the Moon globally into 5 provinces based on weight percentages of TiO2. A new finding is the Highland II Province of elevated iron concentration which surrounds basins. These elevated iron levels may be explained in terms of an “Intrusion Model”. In this model, basin formation fractures the surrounding anorthositic bedrock, and the middle level anorthositic crust allows mafic (basaltic?) magma to intrude. This intrusion into the megaregolith is in the form of sills and dykes from deep mafic sources but generally does not intrude into the surface regolith. In some places however, the mafic (basaltic?) lava may have extruded onto the surface, such as near Crater 846 (15.6N 92.2W). The megaregolith, which consists of large volume breccia, would have voids and vacancies in this structure into which mafic or basaltic material could intrude. “Islands” of Highland I Province material surrounded by Highland II Province indicate this intrusion was non-uniform. Another possible explanation for the Highland II Province iron levels comes from the “Thrust Block” model, where deep mafic material has been broken into large blocks by the basin-forming events, and “thrusted” or uplifted to displace most of the overlying anorthosite bedrock, thereby mechanically mixing with the megaregolith to provide the additional iron input. However, this does entirely fit comfortably with the data in this study. A third explanation for the Highland II Province arises from the “Basin Impact Ejecta Model” such as the Imbrium Impact described by Haskin (1998). The Basin Impact Ejecta model describes the effect of basin impacts around 4.0 billion to 3.8 billion years ago in the Moon’s history (Ryder, 1990; Taylor, 2001)). This model implies that basin material was ejected and deposited on a global or similar scale. However, the results of this study place severe limitations on the feasibility of the “Basin Impact Ejecta” model to explain any significant mafic input from such ejecta in forming the Highland II megaregolith material. These Province Maps provide a new dimension to the study of the Moon’s crustal development and reveal a highly complex history, providing a basis for future study. ii Certification of Dissertation I certify that this dissertation contains no material accepted for the award of any other degree or diploma in any university. To the best of my knowledge, it contains no material published or written by any other person except where due reference is made in the text. ________________________________ Signature of Candidate Date ENDORSEMENT __________________________ Signature of Supervisor Date iii Acknowledgements The author would like to acknowledge with much appreciation the various persons who greatly assisted in the completion of this dissertation. Firstly, I would like to especially thank Dr Brad Carter my academic adviser and senior thesis supervisor at USQ (University of Southern Queensland, Toowoomba, Australia) whose support, guidance and dissertation writing advice has been invaluable. I would also like to especially thank my associate supervisor Dr Paul Spudis formerly of the Lunar and Planetary Institute in Houston and currently at Johns Hopkins University, Applied Physics Laboratory, for invaluable technical advice, lunar maps, and copies of numerous publications relating to lunar research. Much appreciation goes to my other associate supervisor Professor S. Ross Taylor of the Australian National University in Canberra for technical publications, and reference advice. I would also wish to thank: - Mr Brian Fessler of the Lunar and Planetary Institute for IT advice regarding some of the specialist software used in this research and Mr Bob Betz of Tampa, Florida for the gift of a Lunar Atlas by Antonin Rukl. I would also like to thank Dr Clive Mc Alpine and Mr Glen Eaton at the University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia, for access to and mapping assistance relating to ArcGIS software. The US Geological Survey is thanked for allowing access to the ISIS image processing software and the Clementine data set. In addition, I would like to thank Dr Steve Beloga of Proxemy Research Ltd, Maryland USA for useful suggestions concerning statistical analysis of the data set derived for this dissertation. Acknowledgement is given for the assistance in the form of technical papers provided by Dr Randy Korotev, and Dr Jeff Gillis of Washington University in St Louis and more recently of the University of Hawaii at Manoa, Dr Carlé Pieters of Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island USA, and Dr Stefanie Tompkins of S.A.I.C., Chantilly Virginia, USA. Thanks are expressed especially to Dr Brad D. Carter, Dr Paul D. Spudis, and Professor S. Ross Taylor, and also Dr Joseph Debattista for proofreading earlier versions of my dissertation. My thanks also are expressed to Dr David Fanning of Fanning Software Consulting of Fort Collins, Colorado, USA, for supplying an IDL procedure “TVREAD.pro” to capture the graphics of my analysis work for printing. Thanks are expressed to the University of Southern Queensland, Toowoomba, Australia for providing the Research Scholarship and other support that made this all possible. I would like to honour the memory of my late maternal Grandfather, Peter MacGregor, who inspired me in my formative years to become interested in Geography, Cartography and technical matters. Finally, thanks are expressed to my Mum, Dad, and Brother Allan for their enormous patience and co-operation that allowed me to do my work with only the minimum number of distractions. iv Contents Abstract ........................................................................................................................i Certification of Dissertation........................................................................................ii Acknowledgements....................................................................................................iii Contents .....................................................................................................................iv List of Figures ............................................................................................................vi List of Tables .............................................................................................................ix 1 INTRODUCTION ..............................................................................................1 1.1 Overview of Past Work...............................................................................1 1.2 The Lunar Megaregolith .............................................................................1 1.3 Statement of relevance/ importance of this research: .................................2 1.3.1 What is the problem? ..........................................................................2 1.3.2 Why is it important?............................................................................2 1.3.3 What was done to address this problem? ............................................2 1.4 Overview of Lunar Research ......................................................................2 1.4.1 Formation of the Lunar Magma Ocean...............................................2 1.5 Crustal Formation and Structure.................................................................4 1.6 Craters and their Formation ........................................................................5 1.7 Lunar Time Scale and Basin Formation .....................................................6 1.7.1 Mare Formation, Basalt, K.R.E.E.P. Basalt, and Sources ..................7 1.8 Definitions and background........................................................................9 1.9 Goals of the Study.....................................................................................11 2 METHODOLOGY............................................................................................12 2.1 Analysis of Clementine data .....................................................................12 2.1.1 Megaregolith Composition Characterisation ....................................12
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