Unravelling lunar mantle source processes via the Ti isotope composition of lunar basalts

Abstract

Formation and crystallisation of the Lunar Magma Ocean (LMO) was one of the most incisive events during the early evolution of the Moon. Lunar Magma Ocean solidification concluded with the coeval formation of K-, REE- and P-rich components (KREEP) and an ilmenite-bearing cumulate (IBC) layer. Gravitational overturn of the lunar mantle generated eruptions of basaltic rocks with variable Ti contents, of which their δ49Ti variations may now reflect variable mixtures of ambient lunar mantle and the IBC. To better understand the processes generating the spectrum of lunar low-Ti and high-Ti basalts and the role of Ti-rich phases such as ilmenite, we determined the mass dependent Ti isotope composition of four KREEP-rich samples, 12 low-Ti, and eight high-Ti mare basalts by using a 47Ti-49Ti double spike. Our data reveal significant variations in δ49Ti for KREEP-rich samples (+0.117 to +0.296 ‰) and intra-group variations in the mare basalts (-0.030 to +0.055 ‰ for low-Ti and +0.009 to +0.115 ‰ for high-Ti basalts). We modelled the δ49Ti of KREEP using previously published HFSE data as well as the δ49Ti evolution during fractional crystallisation of the LMO. Both approaches yield δ49TiKREEP similar to measured values and are in excellent agreement with previous studies. The involvement of ilmenite in the petrogenesis of the lunar mare basalts is further evaluated by combining our results with element ratios of HFSE, U and Th, revealing that partial melting in an overturned lunar mantle and fractional crystallisation of ilmenite must be the main processes accounting for mass dependent Ti isotope variations in lunar basalts. Based on our results we can also exclude formation of high-Ti basalts by simple assimilation of ilmenite by ascending melts from the depleted lunar mantle. Rather, our data are in accord with melting of these basalts from a hybrid mantle source formed in the aftermath of gravitational lunar mantle overturn, which is in good agreement with previous Fe isotope data.