Compositional trends in Apollo 16 soils

Abstract

Data on the bulk chemical composition of the soils collected at and under the surface of the Apollo 16 landing site are synthesized and reviewed, with emphasis placed on the way in which the compositional trends within the soils relate to the site geology. Two distinct compositional mixing trends are discerned. One involves addition to this surface Cayley component of a material such as that ejected by North Ray Crater. The other is thought to be a segment of a mixing line between the average melt fraction of the local Cayley component and pure or nearly pure anorthosite. Grain size fractions of Apollo 16 soils exhibit a general trend of higher concentrations of large ion lithophile (LIL) elements associated with plagioclase in the finest fraction compared with the coarse fractions. The suite of pristine nonmare rocks (as currently recognized) is found to be insufficient to model the Apollo 16 soils.