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Title: How to differentiate a rocky planet: insight from the volcanism of the Moon
Speaker: Renaud Merle
Affiliation: Uppsala University
Time: Thursday 26 January 2023, 1100 to 1200
Location: 80127Å
Abstract:
The current models of rocky planet formation and chemical differentiation are largely based on our understanding of Earth. These models are not perfect as the testimony of the early planetary differentiation has been likely erased on Earth or Mars by erosion and plate tectonics. As these latter processes are virtually inexistent on the earth’s moon (“The Moon”), the different stages leading to the differentiation of the Moon into a planet with a core, a mantle and a crust like any other rocky planet might be still recorded into the lunar rocks, in particular those derived from the mantle. Early planetary formation and differentiation processes can be traced in volcanic rocks using the tools of geochronology and geochemistry. The purpose of this talk is to investigate the existing models of formation and evolution of the Moon by establishing the geochemical characteristics of the lunar volcanism which is the window into the evolution of the lunar mantle through time.