OUR STUDY FOCUSES ON THE GEOCHEMISTRY PETROLOGY AND REMOTE SENSING OF HIGH MG TROCTOLITIC-SUITE SAMPLES (BOTH KREEPY AND KREEP-POOR) AND MG-ANORTHOSITE SAMPLES (METEORITIC AND APOLLO) IN ORDER TO ANSWER THESE QUESTIONS THAT ARE KEY TO THE EVOLUTION OF THE MOON. WE WILL DETERMINE POSSIBLE RELATIONSHIPS AMONG THESE SAMPLE SUITES BY EMPHASIZING TEXTURAL AND MINERAL CHEMICAL CONSTRAINTS ON THEIR ORIGINS AND OVERALL CHEMICAL CONDITIONS OF FORMATION THROUGH: (TASK 1) MINERAL CHEMISTRY (MAJOR MINOR AND TRACE ELEMENT) TO IDENTIFY EVOLUTIONARY TRENDS AMONG SAMPLE SUITES. (TASK 2) MODELING OF MELT EQUILIBRIA TO CONSTRAIN POTENTIAL GENETIC RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN THE SELECTED SAMPLE SUITES; AND (TASK 3) REFLECTANCE SPECTROSCOPY OF THE SELECTED SAMPLES TO GAIN VALUABLE INSIGHTS INTO THE GLOBAL DISTRIBUTION OF TROCTOLITIC MG-SUITE ACROSS THE MOON.
$414,076FY2020National Aeronautics and Space AdministrationNASA
Rutgers, The State University