Where Is the Lunar Mantle and Deep Crust at Crisium? A Perspective From the Luna 20 Samples

Abstract

AbstractRemote sensing observations have been interpreted to indicate that the Crisium basin‐forming event excavated deep crust and upper mantle. Samples from the highlands adjacent to the Crisium basin returned by Luna 20 (L‐20) bring a unique perspective for evaluating this concept. The magmatic lithologies returned from the noritic Hilly and Furrowed Terrain (nHFT) by L‐20 are coarse‐grained feldspar (>300 μm) with inclusions of pyroxene, and finer‐grained norites, troctolites, spinel troctolites, and gabbros (<100 μm). These two suites represent ferroan anorthosites (FANs) and the Mg‐suite, respectively. There is limited evidence for mantle or deep crustal material within the nHFT samples. Ultramafic rocks such as dunites and orthopyroxenites are absent, and Mg‐rich olivine‐ and orthopyroxene‐bearing‐assemblages are derived from magmatic rocks emplaced in the shallow crust. These lithic fragments represent pre‐Crisium episodes of magmatism (Mg‐suite) and lunar magma ocean products (FANs). The lack of deep lithologies at the L‐20 site seems contradictory to excavation models for Crisium. Mineralogical‐chemical differences suggest a higher FAN component in the rim and that this represents FANs excavated from the deep lunar crust. If it exists, the Mg‐rich olivine previously identified within the Crisium rim is most likely related to deep, complementary versions of the Mg‐suite rocks from L‐20. The material associated with the Crisium basin is not derived from the lunar mantle but represents crustal lithologies from the shallow to deep crust, a substantial mantle component may have been incorporated into the Crisium basin impact melt sheet, or that our “Earth‐analog” for the lunar upper mantle is incorrect.