¹Svetlana Demidova et al. (>10)
Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta (in Press) Link to Article [https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gca.2025.02.022]
¹Vernadsky Institute of Geochemistry and Analytical Chemistry, Russian Academy of Sciences, 119991 Kosygin Street, Moscow, Russia
Copyright Elsevier

Two types of mare basalt have been previously reported in the Luna-16 returned soil samples: dominant Intermediate-Ti basalts and minor Very-Low-Ti (VLT) basalts. The crystallization age of the main group of Intermediate-Ti basalts determined for 14 fragments by the Pb-Pb isochron approach is 3590.3 ± 9.4 Ma. Intermediate-Ti basalts are likely to represent the late episode of volcanism that occupies the largest part of the Mare Fecunditatis surface. The VLT group Pb-Pb isochron obtained from 3 fragments corresponds to an age 3919 ± 27 Ma. The VLT basalts may represent an initial underlying basaltic filling of Mare Fecunditatis, at least in some parts of the basin.