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A protracted timeline for lunar bombardment from mineral chemistry, Ti thermometry and U–Pb geochronology of Apollo 14 melt breccia zircons

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Abstract

New zircon U–Pb and trace element investigations from Apollo 14 lunar impact breccia sample #14311 reveal at least three distinct (Concordia, 2σ) age populations at 4334 ± 10, 4245 ± 10 and 3953 ± 10 Ma. Titanium-in-zircon thermometry (Tixln) results correlated with U–Pb ages range from ~800–1200 ºC. Lattice strain models used to infer zircon versus whole-rock rare earth element contents, and partitioning calculations against lunar impact breccia component compositions, quantitatively constrain formation conditions for the different age populations. A compilation of new data with published work shows that Apollo 14 zircons older than ca. 4300 Ma formed by igneous processes associated with lunar crust formation. Compositional variability in the ca. 4240 Ma zircon age population is interpretable, however, via a mixture of inherited and melt-generated components from one or more large impacts perhaps related to a marked increase in bombardment flux. Ages from the youngest zircon group at ca. 3950 Ma coincide with the classical “late heavy bombardment” (LHB) as documented from previous lunar geochronologies. These results lend support to the idea that instead of a simple unimodal LHB scenario, or a monotonic decline in impacts, the Moon was battered by multiple cataclysms since ca. 4240 Ma. Such a “Picket fence”-like bombardment to the Moon best describes the mode and tempo of impacts that accompanied the late stages of solar system formation and giant planet migration.

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Acknowledgments

We thank the Apollo 14 crew and the Lunar Curatorial Facility, Johnson Space Center (NASA) for the provision of these samples. This work benefitted from discussions and debates with O. Abramov, W. F. Bottke, R. Brasser, T. M. Harrison, N. M. Kelly, D. A. Kring, K. D. McKeegan, A. Morbidelli, M. M. Wielicki and K. J. Zahnle. The manuscript was improved by constructive comments from three anonymous reviewers and editorial handling by H. Keppler. Support from the NASA Lunar Science Institute under Grant NNH08ZDA008C to the Center for Lunar Origin and Evolution, and the NASA Cosmochemistry Program (NNH13ZDA001N-COS) is gratefully acknowledged. A substantial portion of the manuscript was completed, while SJM held a Distinguished Research Professorship at the Institute for Geological and Geochemical Research, Research Center for Astronomy and Earth Sciences of Hungarian Academy of Sciences. We also wish to thank Axel Schmitt and Rita Economos for assistance with the Cameca ims1270 ion microprobe at UCLA, D. London and G. Morgan (University of Oklahoma) for CL imaging, and Julien Allaz for help with the electron microprobe at CU Boulder.

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  1. M. D. Hopkins

    Present address: Department of Earth Science, Santa Monica College, 1900 Pico Boulevard, Santa Monica, CA, 90405, USA

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  1. Department of Geological Sciences, NASA Lunar Science Institute Center for Lunar Origin and Evolution (CLOE), University of Colorado, UCB 399, 2200 Colorado Avenue, Boulder, CO, 80309-0399, USA

    M. D. Hopkins & S. J. Mojzsis

  2. Laboratoire de Géologie de Lyon, École Normale Supérieure de Lyon, CNRS UMR 5276, Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1, 46 Allée d’Italie, 69007, Lyon, France

    S. J. Mojzsis

  3. Research Center for Astronomy and Earth Sciences, Institute for Geological and Geochemical Research, Hungarian Academy of Sciences, 45 Budaörsi Street, Budapest, 1112, Hungary

    S. J. Mojzsis

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Hopkins, M.D., Mojzsis, S.J. A protracted timeline for lunar bombardment from mineral chemistry, Ti thermometry and U–Pb geochronology of Apollo 14 melt breccia zircons. Contrib Mineral Petrol 169, 30 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00410-015-1123-x

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