Mineralogical and Petrological Investigations of Lunar Samples

Abstract

Fragments of igneous rocks and breccias, and one coarse-grained rock with thin sections, have been studied. Minerals found include pyroxene, plagioclase, olivine, ilmenite, troilite, ulvöspinel, native iron, cristobalite, tridymite, alkali feldspar, apatite, and quartz. Textures are described and interpreted. Among features revealed by optical, microprobe, x-ray diffraction, and electron microscope methods are extreme zoning and unmixing in pyroxene grains, compositional variations in ilmenites, and effects of shock metamorphism. Some trace elements were determined by x-ray fluorescence analysis.