High crustal diversity preserved in the lunar meteorite Mount DeWitt 12007 (Victoria Land,Antarctica) |
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| Authors: | Alberto Collareta Massimo D'Orazio Maurizio Gemelli Andreas Pack Luigi Folco |
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| Institution: | 1. Dipartimento di Scienze della Terra, Università di Pisa, Pisa, Italy;2. Dottorato Regionale in Scienze della Terra Pegaso, Università di Pisa, Pisa, Italy;3. Georg‐August‐Universit?t G?ttingen, Geowissenschaftliches Zentrum, Abteilung Isotopengeologie, G?ttingen, Germany |
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| Abstract: | The meteorite Mount DeWitt (DEW) 12007 is a polymict regolith breccia mainly consisting of glassy impact‐melt breccia particles, gabbroic clasts, feldspathic clasts, impact and volcanic glass beads, basaltic clasts, and mingled breccia clasts embedded in a matrix dominated by fine‐grained crystals; vesicular glassy veins and rare agglutinates are also present. Main minerals are plagioclase (typically An>85) and clinopyroxene (pigeonites and augites, sometimes interspersed). The presence of tranquillityite, coupled with the petrophysical data, the O‐isotope data (Δ17O = ?0.075), and the FeOtot/MnO ratios in olivine (91), pyroxene (65), and bulk rock (77) indicate a lunar origin for DEW 12007. Impactites consist of Al‐rich impact‐melt splashes and plagioclase‐rich meta‐melt clasts. The volcanic products belong to the very low titanium (VLT) or low titanium (LT) suites; an unusual subophitic fragment could be cryptomare‐related. Gabbroic clasts could represent part of a shallow intrusion within a volcanic complex with prevailing VLT affinity. DEW 12007 has a mingled bulk composition with relatively high incompatible element abundances and shows a high crustal diversity comprising clasts from the Moon's major terranes and rare lithologies. First‐order petrographic and chemical features suggest that DEW 12007 could be launch‐paired with other meteorites including Y 793274/981031, QUE 94281, EET 87521/96008, and NWA 4884. |
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