[1] The earliest formed crust on a single plate planet such as Mars should be preserved, deeply buried under subsequent surface materials. Mars’ extensive cratering history would have fractured and disrupted the upper layers of this ancient crust. Large impacts occurring late in Martian geologic history would have excavated and exposed this deeply buried material. We report the compositional an...

Mafic Mound” is a distinctive and enigmatic feature 75 km across and 1km high near the center of the vast South Pole-Aitken Basin (SPA). Using several modern data sets, we characterize the composition, morphology, and gravity signature of the structure in order to assess its origin. Mafic Mound is found to exhibit a perched circular depression and a homogeneous high-Ca pyroxene-bearing composit...

[1] An analysis of the Northern Imbrium Noritic (NIN) region was conducted using Clementine UVVIS multispectral images and derived band parameters. Band parameters were used to map spatial variations in composition and to aid in general separation of compositional signatures from effects such as maturity and topography. Compositional trends in which the abundance of mafic materials relative to ...

[1] Stacking of approximately 1500 radial receiver functions recorded at about 80 broadband seismic stations deployed in southern Africa reveals systematic spatial variations in the ratio of crustal P and S wave velocities (F), crustal thickness (H), and the amplitude of the converted Moho phases (R). The eastern Zimbabwe and the southern Kaapvaal cratons are characterized by small H ( 38 km), ...

a r t i c l e i n f o Keywords: Lithium isotopes A-type granite Mafic enclave Continental crust Lithium concentrations and isotopic compositions of 39 A-type granites and mafic enclaves from 11 plutons in Northeast China and the North China craton are used to constrain their genesis and to characterize further the average composition of the continental crust. Lithium concentrations (2.8 to 80 p...

Introduction: Lunar meteorite Dhofar 961, a complex, lithic-clast-rich impact breccia [1,2], was called out by [3-6] as a candidate for an origin in the South Pole – Aitken (SPA) Basin region of the Moon (the SPA Terrane) on the basis of its relatively mafic, but nonmare lithologic and major-element chemical composition. It also has an incompatible-element signature that differs from the KREEP-...

Olivine is identified as the major mafic mineral in a central peak of Copernicus crater. Information on the mineral assemblages of such unsampled lunar surface material is provided by near infrared reflectance spectra (0.7 to 2.5 micrometers) obtained with Earth-based telescopes. The composition of the deep-seated material comprising the Copernicus central peak is unique among measured areas. O...