Delineating the major KREEP-bearing terranes on the moon with global measurements of absolute thorium abundances

The Lunar Prospector (LP) Gamma-Ray Spectrometer (GRS) has been used to map the global composition of thorium on the lunar surface. Previous LP results of relative thorium abundances demonstrated that thorium is highly concentrated in and around the nearside western maria and less so in the South Po...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Lawrence, D.J., Feldman, W.C., Barraclough, B.L., Elphic, R.C., Prettyman, T.H., Binder, A.B., Maurice, S., Miller, M.C.
Language:unknown
Published: 2009
Subjects:
66 PHYSICS
GAMMA SPECTROMETERS
MOON
CHEMICAL COMPOSITION
THORIUM
ABUNDANCE
MAPPING
South Pole
Aitken
South pole
Online Access:http://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/329552
https://www.osti.gov/biblio/329552
Description
Summary:The Lunar Prospector (LP) Gamma-Ray Spectrometer (GRS) has been used to map the global composition of thorium on the lunar surface. Previous LP results of relative thorium abundances demonstrated that thorium is highly concentrated in and around the nearside western maria and less so in the South Pole Aitken (SPA) basin. Using new detector modeling results and a larger data set, the authors present here a global map of absolute thorium abundances on a 2{degree} by 2{degree} equal-area pixel scale. Because thorium is a tracer of KREEP-rich material, these data provide fundamental information regarding the locations and importance of terranes that are rich in KREEP bearing materials.

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