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Electrical Conductivity of Lunar Rock

Abstract

SONETT et al.1 have reported their deductions about the variation in electrical conductivity along the radius of the Moon, based on measurements with a surface magnetometer (Apollo 12) and an orbiting magnetometer (Explorer 35). They deduced an increase from about 10−5 mho m−1 at the surface to 6 × 10−3 mho m−1 at a depth of 250 km, a sharp fall to about 10−5 mho m−1 in the next 100 km and a gradual rise towards the centre. They proposed in explanation a layered structure for the Moon, with an olivine-rich core (1,400 km radius), a transition zone of 100 km and a basaltic mantle.

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References

  1. Sonett, C. P., Colburn, D. S., Dyal, P., Parkin, C. W., Smith, B. F., Schubert, G., and Schwartz, K., Nature, 230, 359 (1971).

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  2. Schwerer, F. C., Nagata, T., and Fisher, R. M., The Moon (in the Press).

  3. Nagata, T., Rikitate, T., and Kono, M. Proc. COSPAR Space Science, 10 (1970).

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WRIGHT, D. Electrical Conductivity of Lunar Rock. Nature Physical Science 231, 169–170 (1971). https://doi.org/10.1038/physci231169a0

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