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Pristine Igneous Rocks and the Early Differentiation of Planetary MaterialsOur studies are highly interdisciplinary, but are focused on the processes and products of early planetary and asteroidal differentiation, especially the genesis of the ancient lunar crust. The compositional diversity that we explore is the residue of process diversity, which has strong relevance for comparative planetology. Most of the accessible lunar crust consists of materials hybridized by impact-mixing. Our lunar research concentrates on the rare pristine (unmixed) samples that reflect the original genetic diversity of the early crust. Among HED basalts (eucrites and clasts in howardites), we distinguish as pristine the small minority that escaped the pervasive thermal metamorphism of the parent asteroid's crust. We have found a correlation between metamorphically pristine HED basalts and the similarly small minority of compositionally evolved "Stannern trend" samples, which are enriched in incompatible elements and titanium compared to main group eucrites, and yet have relatively high mg ratios. Other topics under investigation included: lunar and SNC (martian?) meteorites; igneous meteorites in general; impact breccias, especially metal-rich Apollo samples and polymict eucrites; siderophile compositions of the lunar and martian mantles; and planetary bulk compositions and origins.
Document ID
20050081989
Acquisition Source
Headquarters
Document Type
Other
Authors
Warren, Paul H. (California Univ. Los Angeles, CA, United States)
Date Acquired
September 7, 2013
Publication Date
January 1, 2005
Subject Category
Lunar And Planetary Science And Exploration
Funding Number(s)
CONTRACT_GRANT: NAG5-11556
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Work of the US Gov. Public Use Permitted.

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