When samples were first returned from the moon by the Apollo astronauts, mineral
ID: 121407 • Letter: W
Question
When samples were first returned from the moon by the Apollo astronauts, mineralogists were somewhat disappointed to learn that the moon was made almost entirely of minerals that are also common on Earth.
a) List (and briefly describe) three reasons why it makes sense for the Earth, the moon, and other rocky planets to have similar mineral compositions.
b) There are a few minerals that are much more common on the moon or Mars than on Earth. List (and briefly describe) two reasons why mineral compositions might differ between the planets.
c) Please provide one specific example for either a or b, based on Mars, the moon, or Venus.
Explanation / Answer
a) All the three have olivine , feldspar and pyroxene in common. Olivine crystallizes at high pressure and temperature, the presence of it signifies that all the three have gone through this at a time. All three have the siderophile element which is also present in the asteroids. All three have the silicate crust.
The formation and differentiation (crust,mantle and core) in all the three are similar in nature. All are accredited from the same planetisimal material (planetary dust) but due to various geological processes they are slightly diffrent in nature and composition. Even if you compare it from meteorites , you will find that the composition by their parent material are same, which provide an important clue to scientist to infer the formation process of the planet.
b) Anhydrous mineral are much more common in mars and moon than Earth. Moon has no atmosphere while mars have very thin atmosphere mainly composed of carbondioxide(95.32 %) and nitrogen. Also many iron bearing minerals are present on the moon and mars surfce but are very rare amount in earth's surface.
c) Iron oxides and sulfides minerals are present on the surfce of mars, moon and venus. Most of the study has been done using XRD.
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