Velocity-density systematics,mean atomic weight,and the interior of the moon |
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| Authors: | JPeter Watt |
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| Institution: | Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences, University of Colorado/NOAA, Boulder, CO 80309 U.S.A. |
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| Abstract: | Mean atomic weight profiles for the lunar mantle have been calculated from velocity-density systematic relations using lunar density and seismic velocity models. Despite large variability among the models, the calculation including Poisson's ratio yields a range of mean atomic weight values between 22 and 23 g mol?1 below 150 km. A similar calculation for the Earth's mantle produces a mean atomic weight of 21.1 ±0.4 g mol?1. This suggests that the Moon cannot be derived directly from the Earth's mantle, or that it has had a differentiation history different from the Earth's. The lunar require an Fe mole fraction between 0.25 and 0.33 for a pure olivine mantle, or between 0.33 and 0.45 for pure pyroxene.The present profiles are 0.5–3.0 g mol?1 higher than those calculated from lunar compositional models based on lunar rock compositions and petrology and assumed lunar histories, indicating inadequacies in either the seismic or compositional models, or in both. The mean atomic weight approach provides a method of comparing the consistency of seismic and compositional models of planetary interiors. |
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