Comparative petrology of Apollo 16 sample 68415 and Apollo 14 samples 14276 and 14310

Abstract

Petrographic and electron microprobe studies of Apollo 16 igneous rock 68415 and Apollo 14 rocks 14276 and 14310 show that all three samples differ from the mare basalts and are characterized by plagioclase as the first liquidus phase and by the abundance of plagioclase which is in part cumulate in origin. Major and minor element abundances and isotopic data prohibit the derivation of rocks like any of these samples from one another by magmatic fractionation during their crystallization. They could have originated by partial melting of an old, more Al-rich source material without isotopic equilibration with the residuum, by complete melting of three independent sources, or by contamination with old radiogenic material. The existence of such feldspathic basalts indicates that the generation of Al-rich magmas may have been an important and widespread lunar process.