Potassium-uranium systematics of apollo 11 and apollo 12 samples: implications for lunar material history

Apollo 11 and Apollo 12 lunar rock suites differ in their potassium-uranium abundance systematics. This difference indicates that relatively little exchange of regolith material has occurred between Mare Tranquillitatis and Oceanus Procellarum. The two suites appear to have been derived from materials of identical potassium and uranium content. It appears unlikely that bulk lunar material has the ratio of potassium to uranium found in chondrites. However, systematic differences in the potassium-uranium ratio between Apollo samples and crustal rocks of the earth do not preclude a common potassium-uranium ratio for bulk earth and lunar material.     

Luminescence of apollo 11 lunar samples

Luminescence measurements were made of four lunar rocks, two terrestrial rocks (granite and gabbro), and one terrestrial mineral (willemite) by comparing the spectral curves with the curve of a barium sulfate standard. Efficiencies with 3000 angstrom excitation were < 6 x 10(-5) for the lunar samples, < 8 x 10(-5) for gabbro of very similar composition to the lunar samples, approximately 10(-4) for granite, and approximately 2 X 10(-2) for willemite. If these are typical values for other ultraviolet excitation wavelengths, the Apollo 11 site appears to contribute little to the observed lunar luminescence.     

Radioactivity of the lunar surface

Diffusion of radon and thoron from the Ilunar surface provides a mechanism for production of a radioactive surface layer on the moon. If the radon and thoron flux from the lunar surface is equal to that measured at the earth's surface, the equilibrium activity of this surface layet is estimated as approximately 1 microcurie per square meter, due to radon and its decay products. This activity consists of alpha particles and gamnmna rays at well-defined energies and of beta rays.     

Trapped solar wind noble gases, kr81/kr exposure ages and k/ar ages in apollo 11 lunar material

Grain size and etching experiments show that the fine lunar material contains large amounts of trapped solar wind particles. Elemental and isotopic compositions of the noble gases in solar material and in the terrestrial atmosphere are significantly different, except for the Ar(36)/ Ar(38) and the Kr isotope ratios. Exposure ages of two rocks and of the fine material are between 380 and 510 x 10(6) years. Feldspar concentrates give K/Ar ages of 3220 and 3300 x 10(6) years, significantly higher than the unseparated rock.     

Evidence for compounds hydrolyzable to amino acids in aqueous extracts of apollo 11 and apollo 12 lunar fines

Hydrolyzates of aqueous extracts of Apollo 11 fines, an Apollo 12 trench sample, and an Apollo 12 surface sample have been analyzed on an ultrasensitive amino acid analyzer. The total content of amino acids recovered ranged from 20 to 70 parts per billion of lunar soil. Amino acids are not recovered by the direct hydrolysis of lunar fines, presumably because of decomposition in the presence of the large excess of lunar mineral. As judged by retention time, glycine is the dominant amino acid found; alanine is secondarily present in each case in the profile. Only a few amino acids have been recorded in each analysis. The pattern is relatively consistent in the samples from the three locations; the pattern from either hydrolyzed or unhydrolyzed extracts differs markedly from that of hydrolyzed or unhydrolyzed handprints. The evidence is not consistent with contamination of the kind expected by many investigators.     

Concentration and isotopic composition of carbon and sulfur in apollo 11 lunar samples

The concentration of carbon and sulfur in six samples ranged between 20 to 200 and 650 to 2300 parts per million, respectively. Carbon was present in gaseous, volatilizable, and nonvolatile forms, and terrestrial contaminants were recognized. Sulfur appeared to exist only as acid-volatile sulfide. The bulk fines contain a high concentration of carbon and a low concentration of sulfur. They are always enriched in the heavier isotope carbon-13 or sulfur-34. The fine-grained basaltic rocks show the reverse relation; lowest carbon, highest sulfide concentrations, and no apparent enrichment in heavy isotopes. The breccias are of intermediate composition.     

Elemental composition of lunar surface material

Elemental abundances, so far obtained, derived from the analysis of Apollo 11 lunar material are reported. Similarities and differences exist between lunar material, the eucritic achondrites, and the augite achondrite Angra dos Reis, the analysis of which is also reported.     

Orthopyroxene-plagioclase fragments in the lunar soil from apollo 12

Rock fragments consisting of orthopyroxene-calcic plagioclase assemblages appear to be more common in Apollo 12 soil samples than in the breccias or soil from Apollo 11 and are mineralogically and chemically different from any of the crystalline rocks returned by either Apollo 11 or Apollo 12. Compositionally, these fragments are orthopyroxenites and feldspathic orthopyroxenites. They are probably not fragments of meteorites; other considerations point to a near-surface lunar origin.     

Blowing of lunar soil by apollo 12: surveyor 3 evidence

Analysis of discoloration patterns on the camera of the spacecraft Surveyor 3, after the Apollo 12 lunar module landed nearby, indicates that lunar surface particles were eroded and entrained by lunar modute exhaust during the landing and were ejected almost horizontally at 70 meters per second or faster. These particles struck the Surveyor camere and whitenzed its surface.     

Apollo 11: exposure of lower animals to lunar material

Lunar material returned from the first manned landing on the moon was assayed for the presence of replicating agents possibly harmful to life on earth. Ten species of lower animals were exposed to lunar material for 28 days. No pathological effects attributable to contact with lunar material were detected.     

Primordial radioelements and cosmogenic radionuclides in lunar samples from apollo 15

Two basalts, two breccias, and two soils from Apollo 15 were analyzed by nondestructive gamma-ray spectrometry. The concentrations of potassium, thorium, and uranium in the basalts were similar to those in the Apollo 12 basalts, but the potassium: uranium ratios were somewhat higher. Primordial radioelements were enriched in the soils and breccia, consistent with a two-component mixture of mare basalt and up to 20 percent foreign component (KREEP). The abundance patterns for cosmogenic radionuclides implied surface sampling for all specimens. The galactic cosmic-ray production rate of vanadium-48 was determined as 57 +/- 11 disintegrations per minute per kilogram of iron. Cobalt-56 concentrations were used to estimate the intensity of the solar flare of 25 January 1971.     

High-voltage transmission electron microscopy study of lunar surface material

The internal substructures of a type B sample have been examined at high magnification and compared with terrestrial rocks. Selected ultrathin sections were prepared from these multiphase materials by an ion-thinning technique and examined in a 1-Mev electron microscope, with complementary optical analyses. The structures in the ilmenite and plagioclase indicate that the lunar material has undergone plastic deformation by dislocation movement and possibly microtwinning, with subsequent recovery. The pyroxene exhibits complex lamellar structures of submicron spacing. These various observations are consistent with the optical microscopy evidence for distortion and recovery and identify the processes involved.     

Lunar surface: identification of the dark mantling material in the apollo 17 soil samples

Evidence indicates that Apollo 17 sample 74001, a soil consisting of very dark spheres, is composed almost entirely of the dark mantling material that covers a large region of the southeastern boundary of Mare Serenitatis. Other Apollo 17 samples contain only a component of this material. The underlying basalt in the Taurus-Littrow valley appears to be an extension of material forming the low-albedo ring around part of Mare Serenitatis and much of the surface of Mare Tranquillitatis. The surface of this basalt region is spectrally distinct from areas with dark mantling material. These results are derived fromn telescopic and laboratory measurements of the optical properties of lunar soil. Digital vidicon color images are used to map the extent of these material units in the Taurus-Littrow region.     

Permanent lunar surface magnetism and its deflection of the solar wind

Magnetic compressions intermittently observed outside the lunar wake in the solar wind may be limb shocks caused by the presence of local regions of permanent magnetism on the lunar limb. Observable compression would be due to regions of length scale (radius) at least as great as several tens of kilometers and field strength greater, similar 10 gammas. Thousands of such regions might exist on the lunar surface. The steady magnetic field measured at the Apollo 12 site probably has length scale less, similar 10 kilometers and probably does not produce an observable limb shock.     

Neutron-induced fission of uranium: a dating method for lunar surface material

Volcanic glasses collected on the rim of Shorty Crater in the Apollo 17 area were formed 3.63 x 10(9) years ago. The amounts of xenon-136 produced by neutron-induced fission of uranium-235 indicate that the glasses resided on the lunar surface for about 38 million years before they were deeply buried. The glass spherules were reexcavated by the impact that formed Shorty Crater 17 million years ago, and remained undisturbed until they were collected.