Timing Of Lunar Geological Processes Using In Situ Dating Methods

The Moon has a complex geological history with phases including crust formation, intrusive magmatism, extrusive basaltic volcanism, and bombardment by colliding asteroids and comets. The timing of these events is recorded in the isotopic records preserved within minerals and glass phases in lunar rock samples. Recent progress in analytical techniques have allowed us to revisit Apollo and Luna mission samples to determine more precise sample dates, and apply the same methods to new samples like lunar meteorites.

Objectives of the project are to investigate clasts (small rock fragments) of basalts found within brecciated lunar samples to better characterise the age distribution of basalts found in lunar highland rocks and extracted from the lunar regolith (soil). The project also focuses on dating glass generated by impacts into the lunar soil, known as agglutinates.

We will investigate how agglutinate age populations relate to larger fragments of glass found in the regolith, testing if they are generated from the same or different impact events.