Employing magma ocean crystallization models to constrain structure and composition of the lunar interior

TL;DR

This study uses magma ocean crystallization models to constrain the lunar interior's structure and composition, revealing the influence of FeO content on mantle reservoirs and their implications for lunar dynamics.

Contribution

It introduces a model linking lunar magma ocean crystallization with interior structure, constraining FeO content and mantle reservoir behavior based on experimental and seismic data.

Findings

Lunar FeO content is 8.3-11.9 wt%, moderately enriched compared to Earth.

Only 20-60% of ilmenite bearing cumulates sank to the core-mantle boundary.

Mantle convection results in incomplete sinking of dense reservoirs.

Abstract

The process of lunar magma ocean solidification provides constraints on the properties of distinct chemical reservoirs in the lunar mantle that formed during the early evolution of the Moon. We use a combination of phase equilibria models consistent with experimental results on lunar magma ocean crystallization to study the effect of bulk silicate Moon composition on the properties of lunar mantle reservoirs. We find that the densities and relative proportions of these mantle reservoirs, in particular of the late forming ilmenite bearing cumulates (IBC), strongly depend on the FeO content of the bulk silicate Moon. This relation has implications for post-magma ocean mantle dynamics and the mass distribution in the lunar interior, because the dense IBC form at shallow depths but tend to sink towards the core mantle boundary. We quantify the relations between bulk silicate Moon FeO content, IBC thickness and bulk Moon density as well as mantle stratigraphy and bulk silicate Moon moment of inertia to constrain the bulk silicate Moon FeO content and the efficiency of IBC sinking. In combination with seismic and selenodetic constraints on mantle stratigraphy, core radius, extent of the low velocity zone at the core mantle boundary, considerations about the present day selenotherm and the effects of reservoir mixing by convection our model indicates that the bulk silicate Moon is only moderately enriched in FeO compared to the Earths mantle and contains about 9.4 - 10.9 weight percent FeO (with a lowermost limit of 8.3 weight percent and an uppermost limit of 11.9 weight percent). We also conclude that the observed bulk silicate Moon moment of inertia requires incomplete sinking of the IBC layer by mantle convection: only 20 - 60 percent of the IBC material might have reached the core mantle boundary, while the rest either remained at the depth of origin or was mixed into the middle mantle.