Lunar Subsurface Mineralogy and Density Profile Modeling Based on M3 Data

Abstract

Abstract —Methods of deriving FeO and TiO2 contents from Clementine spacecraft data are discussed, and our own approach is developed for deriving the contents from measurements made by the M3 instrument on Chandrayaan-1. The density of lunar soil bedrock is modeled based on the derived FeO and TiO2 information. The FeO and TiO2 abundance we derived from the M3 data is compared with previous results from the Clementine data and is in good agreement. The FeO abundance data also agree well with the Lunar Prospector data, which were used as an independent source. The previous Clementine and new M3-derived abundances are compared with the laboratory-measured FeO and TiO2 contents in the Apollo and Luna returned samples. The Clementine-derived FeO content was systematically 1–2% lower in all the returned samples than the laboratory measurements. The M3-derived content agrees better with the returned Apollo samples and is within ±2.8% of the laboratory-measured ones. The Clementine-derived TiO2 abundance is systematically 0.1–4% higher than the laboratory measurements of the returned samples. The M3-derived TiO2 content agrees well (±0.6%) with the laboratory measurements of the returned samples, except for the samples with a high TiO2 content. However, caution should be taken when interpreting these results, as the error range needs further study. Unfortunately, no error analysis was provided with the previous Clementine-derived contents.