AGU: Geophysical Research Letters

 

Editors' Highlight

Mapping the composition of the Moon's surface through measurements of titanium oxide abundance

Samples of lunar rocks returned by Apollo astronauts show large variations in titanium oxide abundance, indicating complex compositional zonation within the lunar mantle. This titanium oxide is likely derived from the mineral ilminite (FeTiO₂), and accurately determining ilminite abundances for the entire lunar surface through remote sensing methods is a long-standing goal of the lunar science community. Noting that ilminite has very low reflective properties, Robinson et al. (2007) used images of the Moon's surface taken by the Hubble Space Telescope and determined where ilminite was present by comparing variations in the reflectance of ultraviolet and visible light. They found that areas of high and low ilminite abundance matched well with expected values, based on rocks collected by astronauts of the Apollo missions, and that ilminite abundances did not give insight into the age of lunar soils. The authors expect that their method of remotely mapping the titanium oxide on the lunar surface will enable more refined studies of lunar crustal composition and can guide future human exploration of the Moon.

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