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The global distribution of pure anorthosite on the Moon

Nature volume 461, pages 236–240 (2009)Cite this article

Abstract

It has been thought that the lunar highland crust was formed by the crystallization and floatation of plagioclase from a global magma ocean1,2, although the actual generation mechanisms are still debated2,3. The composition of the lunar highland crust is therefore important for understanding the formation of such a magma ocean and the subsequent evolution of the Moon. The Multiband Imager4 on the Selenological and Engineering Explorer (SELENE)5 has a high spatial resolution of optimized spectral coverage, which should allow a clear view of the composition of the lunar crust. Here we report the global distribution of rocks of high plagioclase abundance (approaching 100 vol.%), using an unambiguous plagioclase absorption band recorded by the SELENE Multiband Imager. If the upper crust indeed consists of nearly 100 vol.% plagioclase, this is significantly higher than previous estimates of 82–92 vol.% (refs 2, 6, 7), providing a valuable constraint on models of lunar magma ocean evolution.

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Figure 1: Locations of the 69 areas of investigation plotted on the USGS Clementine 750-nm basemap.
Figure 2: Results of Jackson analyses.
Figure 3: Results of spatial and spectral analyses of South Ray, Tycho, Tsiolkovsky and Orientale.
Figure 4: Comparison of two different spatial resolutions at Orientale.

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Acknowledgements

We thank SELENE project team members Y. Takizawa, S. Sasaki, M. Kato and R. Nagashima. We also thank Fujitsu Limited engineers T. Maekawa, K. Tsubosaka, N. Tonoya, J. Inoue, N. Masuda and T. Nakashima. We are grateful to Mitsubishi Space Software Co. Ltd engineers M. Hashimoto, K. Torii, Y. Kurashina, A. Yoshizawa and S. Nakanotani. The long-term efforts by each of these teams were essential to our work. We are also grateful to P. G. Lucey for the optical constants of some minerals. The reviews by P. Warren and J. Longhi are much appreciated.

Author Contributions H.O., T.H., H.T., Y. Yamaguchi and T. Matsunaga suggested the original design of the Multiband Imager. M.O. finished the design and proposed the Multiband Imager observations. M.O., T. Matsunaga, J.H., H.O., J.T., T.S., N.H., R.N., H.D., S.M., S.K., Y. Yokota, T. Morota, C.H., Y.O., M.T., K.S., A.I. and N.A. developed the instrument and data processing system. T. Morota, C.H., M.T., M.O., T. Matsunaga, J.H., Y. Yokota, Y.O. and M.A. conducted the operation of the observation. M.O. and Y. Yokota conducted calibration and data analyses for this paper. M.O., T.A., H.M., H.T., Y. Yokota, N.H., R.N., T.H., J.H., T. Morota, K.K., T.S., K.S., T. Matsunaga, Y.O., S.S., A.Y. and C.M.P. contributed to writing the paper. All the authors, including M.S., H.A. and J.-L.J., discussed the results.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Space and Astronautical Science, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, 3-1-1 Yoshino-dai, Sagamihara, Kanagawa 229-8510, Japan ,

    Makiko Ohtake, Junichi Haruyama, Yasuhiro Yokota, Tomokatsu Morota & Masanao Abe

  2. Center for Global Environmental Research, National Institute for Environmental Studies, 16-2 Onogawa, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8506, Japan ,

    Tsuneo Matsunaga

  3. The University of Aizu, Ikki-machi, Aizuwakamatsu, Fukushima 965-8580, Japan ,

    Chikatoshi Honda, Yoshiko Ogawa, Naru Hirata, Kohei Kitazato, Noriaki Asada, Hirohide Demura & Junya Terazono

  4. Fujitsu Ltd., Nakase, Mihama-ku, Chiba, Chiba 261-8588, Japan ,

    Masaya Torii

  5. University Museum, The University of Tokyo, 7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-0033, Japan ,

    Hideaki Miyamoto

  6. Planetary Exploration Research Center, Chiba Institute of Technology, 2-17-1 Tsudanuma, Narashino, Chiba 275-0016, Japan ,

    Tomoko Arai

  7. Research Center for Advanced Science and Technology, The University of Tokyo, 4-6-1 Komaba, Meguro-ku, Tokyo 153-8904, Japan ,

    Akira Iwasaki

  8. Information Technology Research Institute, National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology, 1-1-1 Umezono, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8568, Japan ,

    Ryosuke Nakamura & Shinsuke Kodama

  9. Department of Geological Sciences, Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island 02912, USA,

    Takahiro Hiroi & Carle M. Pieters

  10. Center for Deep Earth Exploration, Japan Agency for Marine Science and Technology, 3173-25 Showa-machi, Kanazawa-ku, Yokohama, Kanagawa 236-0001, Japan ,

    Takamitsu Sugihara

  11. Frontier Plasma Research Center, Chiba Institute of Technology, 2-17-1 Tsudanuma, Narashino, Chiba 275-0016, Japan ,

    Hiroshi Takeda

  12. Lunar and Planetary Exploration Program Group, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, 2-1-1 Sengen, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8505, Japan ,

    Hisashi Otake

  13. Department of Earth and Space Science, Osaka University, 1-1 Machikaneyama, Toyonaka, Osaka 560-0043, Japan,

    Kazuto Saiki

  14. Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Graduate School of Environmental Studies, Nagoya University, D2-1 (510) Furo-cho, Chikusa-ku, Nagoya 464-8601 Japan,

    Yasushi Yamaguchi

  15. RISE Project Office, National Astronomical Observatory of Japan, 2-12 Hoshigaoka, Mizusawa, Oshu 023-0861, Japan ,

    Sho Sasaki

  16. 1-3-11, Nishi-Asakusa, Taito-ku, Tokyo 111-0035, Japan ,

    Motomaro Shirao

  17. Division of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Graduate School of Science, Kyoto University, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto 606-8502, Japan,

    Atsushi Yamaji

  18. Department of Electrical Engineering, Osaka City University, Sugimoto 3, Sumiyoshi, Osaka 558-8585, Japan,

    Shigeyuki Minami

  19. Intercollegiate cooperation strategy, Wakayama University, 930, Sakaedani, Wakayama 640-8510, Japan ,

    Hiroaki Akiyama

  20. Space Exploration Institute CP 774, CH-2002 Neuchatel, Switzerland

    Jean-Luc Josset

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  1. Makiko Ohtake
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Correspondence to Makiko Ohtake.

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Ohtake, M., Matsunaga, T., Haruyama, J. et al. The global distribution of pure anorthosite on the Moon. Nature 461, 236–240 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1038/nature08317

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