GEOPHYSICALRESEARCHLETTERS, VOL. 18, NO.

6, PAGES1163-1166,JUNE 1991

4OAr/39Ar AGES OF SIX APOLLO 15 IMPACT MELT ROCKS BY LASER STEP HEATING

G. BrentDalrymple
U.S. GeologicalSurvey,MenloPark,CA
GrahamRyder

LunarandPlanetaryinstitute,Houston,TX

Abstract.We haveobtained15 highresolution(21-51 of terrestrialcratershaveshownthat mostimpactejecta

step)
40Ar/39Ar
agespectra
onsixApollo15impact
melt arecreatedanddeposited
cold,whereascomplete
rocks
of different compositions
usinga continuouslaser resetting
ofisotopic
clocksisunlikelyexceptin thecaseof
system
onsubmilligram
subsamplesandonsinglecrystal completeor nearmelting
conditions.He alsonotedthat
plagioclase
c!asts.
Fourofthesixsamplesgave theveryexistence
of pre4.0Ga agesfor highlandscrustal
reproducible
agespectra
withwell-defined
intermediate rocksandmarebasalts arguesagainstextensiveimpact
temperature
plateaus
over48% or moreof the39Ar resetting
of theisotopic
systems.Examining theexisting
released;
the plateausare interpretedascrystallization geochronologicdata,Ryder[1990]concluded thatthereis
ages.
Samples 15304,7,69,
15294,6,21,
and15314,26,156 no convincingevidencefor impactmeltrocks,the
gave
virtually
identical
plateauageswhose
weighted materialfromwhichimpactchronology canbestbe
meanis3,870 + 6 Ma. These three melt rocksdiffer in determined, older than about 3.9 Ga.
composition
andlikelyformedin threeseparate
impact Reliablecrystallizationagesfor impactmeltrocksare
events.Sample15356,9gavereplicateplateauagesthat neededto testthe variousearlyimpacthypotheses yet
average3,836+ 12Ma anddatea fourthandyounger few suchdataexist,in partbecause meltrocksare
impactevent.The agespectrafor samples 15308,9and commonly contaminatedwitholderclasts
andoftenyield
15414,3,36increasewith increasingincrement complex40Ar/39Ar agespectraratherthan
temperature andmayhavebeenformedin or affectedby straightforward
plateauages.We are usinga continuous
impactsat about2,700Ma and3,870Ma, respectively. So lasersystemto measure40Ar/39Aragespectrafor
fartherecontinuesto be no convincingevidencein the submillimeter,submilligram fragmentsof meltrocks.The
lunarrecordfor impactmeltsolderthanabout3.9 Ga. useof thelasersystemonverysmallsamples permitsus
to avoidor minimizethe effectsof older clastsyet still
Introduction obtainhigh-resolution agespectra,andto replicatethe
measurements to verify the lack of contamination.We
Theearlyimpacthistoryof the lunarsurfaceis of canalsotargetsmallindividualclastswithinthe melt
critical
importancein understanding the evolutionof both rocks.
theprimitiveMoon andthe corresponding populations of Our first studiesare on melt rocksfrom the Apollo 15
planetesimals in Earth-crossing orbits. There are two site,locatedat the ApennineFront on the main
dissimilarendmemberhypotheses for the early topographic
ringof theImbriumBasinandbetweenthe
bombardment historyof the lunarsurfacethat callfor intermediateandmaintopographicringsof the
greatlydifferentimpactdynamicsandaccountfor the SerenitatisBasin. The Apollo 15 impactmelt rocksare
paucityof pre-4.0Ga isotopicimpactages[seeWilhelms, chemicallydiverse[Ryderand Spudis,1987;Lau! et al.,
1987,for compilation]in quitedifferentways. One 1988]andare thoughtto representseveralimpactevents
hypothesis isthat the Moon wassubjectedto a continuous rangingfrom (mostly)pre-Imbriumto a KREEP-rich
heavy,thoughdeclining,bombardment from about4.5Ga group,theonlydatedmembersof whichare post-
to3.9Ga whileit wascollecting materialfromitsorbital Imbrium in age.
path[Baldwin,1974;Hartmann, 1980;Wilhelms,1987]. Despitethe importanceof the Imbriumeventin lunar
According to thishypothesis, the isotopicclockswere stratigraphy
therehavebeenfew attemptsto measurethe
continually resetby succeeding impactsandthe agesof Apollo 15 impactmelt rocksand,with one
abundance of =3.9 Ga highlands isotopic agesreflectsthe possibleexception,theseattemptshavenotproduced
finalphase
of thebombardment,
primarilytheImbrium convincingcrystallizationages[Alexanderand Kahl,
event[Baldwin,1974;Hartmann, 1975]. 1974; Bernstein, 1983; Bernatowicz et al., 1978; Laurenzi
Theotherhypothesis postulatesanintensebutbrief et al., 1987]. Recently,Bogardet al. [1991]obtainedan
bombardment at about3.9Ga (the"terminallunar 40Ar/39Arincrementalheatingageof 3.85 + 0.05 Ga for a
cataclysm")thatwasresponsible for producingmostof KREEP-poorimpactmelt rock (15459,414)but they
thehighlands landforms,includingthelunarbasins[Tera suggest that the agemayreflectreheatingof an older
etal.,1974;Ryder,1990].Ryder[1990]notedthatstudies sampleby the hot ejectalayerfrom eitherSerenitatisor
Imbrium.
Sofar we haveobtained15 highresolution40Ar/39Ar
This
paperisnotsubject
to U.S.copyright.
Published
in agespectra(21 to 51 steps)on sixApollo 15impactmelt
199
! bytheAmericanGeophysical
Union. rocksof differentcompositions. In thispaperwe report
Paper number 91GL01143 theresultsof thesefirstmeasurements. in the sample
1163
1164 Dalrymple& Ryder: Agesof Apollo 15 Melt Rocks

Table1. Summary
of 40Ar/39Arlaserincremental
heatingresultsonApollo 15impactmeltrocks

Sample
a MgO Sm Weight
b Spectrum Plateau
39Ar Agec
(%) (ppm) (mg) description (%[steps]) (Ma)

15304,7,69 ... 25.5 0.62 goodplateau 58[22 of 43] 3862 + 16

0.25 goodplateau 51118of 42] 3869 + 16
0.44 goodplateau 71128of 51] 3879
0.260 goodplateau 61120of 36] 3872 + 16
15304,7,69[p] 0.234 fair plateau 68[9 of 21] 3870 -+
15308,9 ... 12.3 0.33 increasing none
15308,9[p] 0.29 increasing none
15356,9 13.7 14.4 0.16 fair plateau 48110of 21] 3838 _+16
0.77 goodplateau 50119of 43] 3834 + 16
15414,3,36 9.0 1.8 0.48 complex none
0.22 complex none
15294,6,21 21.5 8.9 0.066 goodplateau 57112of 22] 3864 + 16
O.I20 goodplateau 64[!4 of 27] 3875 +- 1_6
15314,26,156 13.8 22.1 0.062 fair plateau 60113of 24] 3869 +_16
0.089 goodplateau 53110of 26] 3869 + 16

a [p],plagioclase
clast,otherswholerock.Compositional
datafromRyderandSpudis
[19871
except15294,6
fromLaulet al.
[1988].b Italics,
samples
weighed
before
analysis;
otherweights
estimated
fromdiameter
offused
glass
bead.
c ,Xe
=0.581x10-!0yr
-1,,X•=4.962x10-10yrl,
(36Ar/38Ar)tr
=5.35
+0.05,
(4øAr/36Ar)tr=
1_+1,(36Ar/38Ar)cos
=0.67
+0.02,
and
(40Ar/38Ar)cos--0.012-+0.004.
Thespectra
forages
underlined
areshown
inFig.1. Weighted
meanand20error[Taylor,
19821.

numbering, the trailingnumberdesignates

thesplit with monitorhornblendesMMhb-1 and Hb3gr and
analyzedin thisstudyandthe precedingnumbersidentify irradiatedin the E-3 facilityof the OmegaWestReactor
the parentrockor particle. at LosAlamosNationalLaboratoryfor approximately
100hours; they receiveda neutrondoseof about2 x 10x0
Descriptionof Samples nvt. The corrections
for interferingAr isotopes
produced
from K and Ca are small and their effect on the
The sixsamplesanalyzedarerepresentative
of the calculated
agesistypical!y
lessthan0.3%.
rangeof impactmeltrocksdescribed fromtheApollo15 The continuous Ar-ion laserextractionsystemand
landingsiteexcepting
onlya KREEP-richgroupthat massspectrometer, the performancecharacteristics of the
availabledatashoware derivedfroma post-Imbrium instrument,andthegeneralanalyticalprocedures were
terrain.The sampleswerecollectedfromtheApennine describedby Da!rymple[1989]. The individualmeltrock
Frontandweredescribed byRyderandSpudis[1987]and fragmentsand crystalswere held in smallwellsin a
Laul et al. [1988]. They are aluminousbasaltsin copperplanchettandprogressively heatedfor 60sper
composition butdifferin chemistry
considerably (Table incrementby a broadened(defocused) laserbeam
1). Particularlyconspicuous
istherangein incompatible directedthroughthesapphire windowof thesample
elements(e.g.Smfrom 1.8to 25.5ppm). The differences chamber.Temperaturewasmeasuredwith a Minarad
in composition suggest
thateachsampleistheproductof ModelMR-!00 infraredmicroscopic radiometer.The
a differentimpact. emissivities
of themeltrockfragments wereestimated at
The sixsamplesare fine-grained,with groundmass 0.87sotheindicatedtemperatures are notnecessarily
minerals lessthan200/•m,except15308,whichispartly accurate.
glassy,and15414,3,whichincludes groundmass grainsas
largeas500/•m. None containmorethanabout10 % Results and Discussion
clasts,whichare almostentirelyplagioclases lessthan1
mm across.
The four agespectraobtainedon melt rocksample
15304,7,69(Table1,Figure1) axevirtuallyidentical with
Methods and Instrumentation intermediatetemperatureplateausthat fall withinthe
narrowrange3,862Ma to 3,879Ma andextendover51%
A few milligrams of eachmeltrockweregently to 71% of the 39Arreleased.The low temperature
crushedto submillimeter sizefragmentswith mortarand increments (belowtheplateau)haveapparentagesthat
pestle.Individualfragments, visiblyfree of clasts
and exceedtheplateauagewhilethehightemperature
weighing from62 ggto 620/•g, aswell astwoplagioclase increments (abovetheplateau)haveapparentagesless
clasts,
wereselected for irradiationandanalysis.The thantheplateauage.Thistypeof spectrum
maybedue
fragments
andclasts
wereencapsulated
in smallA1cups to recoilof 39Arduringneutronirradiationfromvery
 Dalrymple& Ryder:Agesof Apollo15Melt Rocks 1165

,,,

4100
15304,7,69 materialandthattheplateausrepresent
crystallization
4000 - melt rock ages.Theplagioclase
clastalsoappearstobetheproduct
3900 of,or itsagewascompletely
resetby,theimpactthat
produced
themeltrock. The bestestimateof the
3800
•4 • 38794-16
...... crystallization
ageof 15304,7,69
istheweighted
meanof
3700 thefive plateauages,or 3,870 +_7 Ma (2o).
I . I I I I I l.- l
Samples frommeltrock15356,9 gavetwonearly
15•304,7,6• identicalagespectra,
eachwitha reasonably well-
4000 - plagioclase developed plateauover48%to 50%of the39Arreleased
3900 andwithplateauagesof 3,834_+16Ma and3,838-+ 16
Ma. Theseagespectra showsomewhat greaterrecoil
3800
effectsthan15304,7,69,
possibly because 15356,9contains
+2•- 0
3700 moreconspicuous interstitialSi-K-richglass.We interpret
the weightedmeanageof 3,836 _+12Ma for the two age
! I I II I I 15 l356,9I I spectraasa crystallization
age. Thisageis significantly
4000 ="½•'"• melt rock differentfromthe ageof 3,870Ma foundfor 15304,7,69,
,_
indicatingthat 15356,9formedin a separateimpactevent.
3800 --

t/
•. 3834ñ16
•1 l=l The two agespectraobtainedon samplesof
15314,26,!56 are similar in form to thoseobtained on
3600 samples of 15304,7,69 andhaveplateausover53% and
I I, I I I I I I I 60% of the39Arreleased.Thesespectraalsoshowrecoil
15314,26,156 effects.The twoplateauagesare identicalandindicatea
melt rock
4000
crystallizationageof 3,869 + 12 Ma.
3900
The two agespectrafor 15294,6,21havewell-defined
plateauswith agesof 3,864 +_16 Ma and3,875 +_16 Ma,
3800
- L, 28694-16 • '"' whichare not significantlydifferentfrom eachotherat
3700 the 95% level of confidence.Thesespectrashowrecoil
i i ll i i i I i l effectsin the hightemperatureincrements but not in the
4100 _ 15294,6,21 low temperatureincrements,perhapsbecauselow
melt rock
--

temperatureAr loss,causedby heatingon the lunar

3900
surface,is maskingthe recoil effectsin the low
3700 - • 38754-16, • •==== temperatureincrements.We interpretthe meanof 3,870
_+12Ma for the two plateauagesasthe crystallization
3500 ~

ageof 15294,6,21.
33OO ] i i i i i i i i i The agespectrumfor a fragmentof melt rockfrom
0 20 40 60 80 100 sample15308,9doesnot havea plateaubut increases
39Arreleased
(%) from 2,690Ma at the low-temperatureend of the
spectrumto 2,830Ma at the high-temperatureend. A
Fig.1. 40Ar/39Ar
agespectraof Apollo 15impactmelt plagioclase clast,measuringabout0.6 mm across,from
rocksmeasured by laserstep-heating.Half of thevertical thissamplealsolacksa plateauanditsagespectrum
dimension of the increment boxes is the estimated progressively increases
from 2,750Ma to 3,490 Ma. We
standarddeviationof precisionof the incrementage. The interpretthesespectraasindicatingthat sample15308,9
errors
in the weightedmeanplateauagesare twicethe wasformedin, or wasseverelyaffectedby, an impact
standarderror (95% confidencelevel). event,perhapsa localonethat did not completelyreset
the 40Ar/39Arsystem,at about2,700Ma.
The two agespectrafor sample15414,3,36also
fine-grained,
K-richphases(thusincreasing
thelow increasewith increasingincrementtemperaturefrom
temperature apparentages)andimplantationof the39Ar about 3,900 Ma to about 4,400 Ma, but the increase is
intohighlyretentive,10w-Kphases(thusdecreasingthe irregularandthe two spectraare dissimilarin detail. One
hightemperature apparent ages)[TurnerandCarlogan, hasa well-definedlow temperature"saddle" at about
1974]. 3,870 Ma over about 20% of the 39Arreleased. The
An agespectrum wasalsomeasured ona single interpretationof theseagespectrais speculativebut it
crystal
plagioclase
clast,measuringabout0.6 mm across, seemslikelythat 15414,3,36 wasformedof, or is heavily
from15304,7,69.
Althoughtheestimated errorsof the contaminated by, old (4,400Ma) highlandsmaterialand
individual
increments
arerelativelylargedueto thevery waseitherformedor affected,thoughnotcompletely
small
amountof Ar containedin eachstep,the age reset,by an event at about3870 Ma.
spectrum
hasa hightemperature plateauover68%of the Three of the melt rocksamples(15304,7,69;
•øAr
released
andwitha weighted meanplateauageof !5294,6,21;and15314,26,156) gavevirtuallyidenticaland
3,870
_+.
20Ma (20). reproducible plateauageswith a weightedmeanof 3,870
Thereproducibility
of theagespectraandthe _ 6 Ma (2a), indicating thateithertheywereformedby
concordance
of theplateauagesfor 15304,7,69
indicate the sameimpacteventor by separateeventsthat cannot
that
none
ofthefragments
iscontaminated
byolder bedistinguished
bythe40Ar/39Ar
ages.Themajor-and
1166 Dalrymple& Ryder:Agesof Apollo15Melt Rocks

trace-elementcompositions of thesethreemelt rocks, Bernstein,M. L., 15445and 15455: Origin and

however,differ significantly(Table 1). Studiesof preliminary
agedata,LunarPlanet.$ci.,XIV, 33-34,
terrestrialcratershaveshownthatimpactmeltsprovidea 1983.
relativelyhomogeneous sampleof thetargetevenwhen Bogard,D. D., D. H. Garrison,andM. M. Lindstrom,
the targetis heterogeneous [e.g.,Grieve et al., 1975; 39Ar-40Ar
ageof anApollo15,KREEP-poor, impact
Simondset al, 1976].Lackingevidenceto the contrary, meltrock,LunarandPlanet.Sci.,XXll, 117-118,
homogeneity of the lunarmeltsis a reasonable 1991.
assumption. In addition,the40Ar/39Ar agespectrashow Dalrymple,G. B., The GLM continuous
lasersystem
for
that thesethreeimpactmelt rocksweremelted 40Ar/39Ardating:Descriptionandperformance
sufficiently
to resetthe 40Ar/39Arsystemcompletelyand characteristics,
U.S. Geol.SurveyBull.1890,89-96,
suchcompleteimpactmeltingis likelyto leadto 1989.
homogenization of the melt. Thus,it seemsprobablethat Grieve,R. A. F., Petrology
andchemistry
of theimpact
thesethree samplesaxeproductsof three distinctand meltat Mistastin LakeCrater,Labrador(Canada),
nearlysimultaneous impacteventsthat occurred3,870 _+ Geol. $oc. Amer. Bull., 86, 16_17-1629,1975.
6 Ma ago. Hartmann,
W. K., Lunar"cataclysm":
A misconception,
The meanageof 3,836_+12Ma for sample15356,9is Icarus, 24, 181-187, 1975.
significantly differentfrom the ageof 3,870 _+6 Ma found Hartmann,W. K., Droppingstonesin magmaoceans:
for the otherthreesamplesthat gaveagespectrum Effectsof earlylunarcratering,
in Proceedings
o[ the
plateaus,indicatingthat the former is the productof a Conference
onTheLunarHighlands
Crust,edited
by
differenteventthat occurredsome30-40m.y. laterthan J. J. PapikeandR. B. Merrill, N.Y., Pergamon,155-
the impact(s)that producedthe latter. 171, 1980.
The ApennineFront,sampledat the Apollo 15 Laul,J. C., S.B. Simon,andJ.J. Papike,Chemistry
and
landingsite,shouldcontainabundantmaterial olderthan petrologyof theApennineFront,Apollo 15,PartI11:
Imbrium,especially Serenitatisbasinejecta,aswell as Impactmelt rocks,Proc.Lunar Planet.Sci.Con[.
!mbriumbasinejecta[RyderandSpudis,1987]. Because 18th, 203-2!7, 1988.
the Apollo15samplescontaindebrisfrom manyimpacts, Laurenzi,J. H., S.Kelley,andG. Turner,Laserprobe
assignment of ourmelt rockagesto specificimpacts datingof meltglassandlithiccomponentof lunar
wouldbe merelyspeculation.Mostof the Apennine breccia15466,Terra Cognita,7, 378, 1987.
Frontmaterialmustbe coevalwith or predateImbrium, Ryder,G., Lunarsamples, lunaraccretion
andtheearly
however,andit seemslikelythat the Imbriumimpact bombardmentof the Moon, EOS, 71, 313, 322-323,
itselfis no olderthan3,870Ma andprobablyno older 1990.
than3,836Ma. Sofar, reliableagesfor impactmelts Ryder,G., andP.S. Spudis,Chemicalcompositionand
showno evidencefor bombardment priorto 4.0 Ga but originof Apollo 15impactmelts,Proc.Lunar Sci.
are consistent
with the hypothesis
of a cataclysmic Con•. J7th, Jour. Geophys.Res., 92, E432-E446,
bombardment in theperiod3.9-3.8Ga duringwhich 1987.
KREEP wasfirst broughtto the lunarsurface. Simonds,C. H., J. L. Warner,andW. C. Phinney,Thermal
regimesin crateredterrainwith emphasis ontherole
Acknowledgments. We thank the Los Alamosreactor of impactmelt, Am. Mir•, 61, 569-577, 1976.
stafffor irradiatingthe samples,JamesSaburomaruand Taylor,J. R., An Introductionto Error Analysis,Mill
JerryVon Essenfor assistance withthe analytical Valley,CA, UniversityScienceBooks,270p., 1982.
measurements, andJ. L. WoodenandM. A. Lanpherefor Tera, F., D. A. Papanastassiou,
D. A., andWasserburg• G.
theirhelpfulreviewsof the manuscript.The 40Ar/39Ar J., 1974,Isotopicevidencefor a terminallunar
agemeasurements weredonewithpartialsupportfrom cataclysm,Earth Planet. ScœLett., 22, 1-21, 1974.
NASA'sPlanetaryMaterials& Geochemistry Program. Turner,G., andP. H. Cadogan,Possibleeffectsof 39Ar
Thispaperis LPi contribution#764. The Lunar and recoilin 40A/'-39Ardating,Proc.5th Lunar ScœCon•.,
PlanetaryInstituteisoperatedbytheUniversities
Space Geochim.Cosmochim. Acta SuppI.,2, 1601-1615,
Research Association under contract NASW-4066 with 1974.
theNationalAeronautics
andSpaceAdministration. Wilhelms,D. E., The geologic
Historyof theMoon,U.S.
Geol. SurveyProl. Paper 1348, 302 p, 1987.
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Road One, Houston,TX 77058.
(ReceivedApril 5, 1991;
AcceptedApril 23, 1991)