Completion of lunar magma ocean solidification at 4.43 Ga.

ABSTRACT: Crystallization of the lunar magma ocean yielded a chemically unique liquid residuum named KREEP. This component is expressed as a large patch on the near side of the Moon and a possible smaller patch in the northwest portion of the Moon's South Pole-Aitken basin on the far side. Thermal models estimate that the crystallization of the lunar magma ocean (LMO) could have spanned from 10 and 200 My, while studies of radioactive decay systems have yielded inconsistent ages for the completion of LMO crystallization covering over 160 My. Here, we show that the Moon achieved >99% crystallization at 4,429 ± 76 Ma, indicating a lunar formation age of ~4,450 Ma or possibly older. Using the ¹⁷⁶Lu-¹⁷⁶Hf decay system (t_1/2 = 37 Gy), we found that the initial

SUBMITTER: Dauphas N 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11745400 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature