From a report submitted to the Endowment Committee by: Ran Zhao, Bayerisches Geoinstitut, University of Bayreuth
This work was supported by a Meteoritical Society Research Grant. Visit the Grants webpage for more information about the program and see these previous news stories for information about other funded Meteoritical Society Endowment Grant efforts.
"I would like to take this opportunity to express my deepest gratitude to the Meteoritical Society and everyone who made this grant possible. Your generous support has been instrumental in enabling my research." – Ran Zhao
Project Title: Establishing the records and sources of meteoroid impacts on the Moon
during late accretion
Brief Summary: This research aims to enhance our understanding of the controversial Moon-Earth impact history between ~4.3 and ~3.9 Ga ago. Key tasks include (1) Petrographic and geochemical
characterization of lunar samples and locating uranium-rich minerals. The lunar samples consist of five Apollo 16 samples, two Apollo 17 samples and seven lunar meteorites; (2) In-situ Pb-Pb dating of zircon, apatite, plagioclase and melt rock clasts in lunar samples using SIMS at the CAS, Beijing. Overall, Pb-Pb ages from 4.25 to 3.67 Ga recorded by zircon, apatite and melt rock clasts indicate distinct impact events on the Moon.
The funding provided by the Meteoritical Society funded the travel and local costs for performing SIMS analysis at the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing. With this support, I have obtained a significant amount of valuable and unique data of Pb-Pb ages of apatite, zircon and melt rock clast in lunar meteorite samples and Apollo samples using SIMS, which will serve as a solid foundation for my forthcoming publication. Currently, I am in the process of preparing multiple manuscripts for publication based on this work.