Katherine Joy

The University of Manchester · School of Earth, Atmospheric and Environmental Sciences

The Winchcombe meteorite is a CM chondrite breccia composed of eight distinct lithological units plus a cataclastic matrix. The degree of aqueous alteration varies between intensely altered CM2.0 and moderately altered CM2.6. Although no lithology dominates, three heavily altered rock types (CM2.1–2.3) represent >70 area%. Tochilinite–cronstedtite...

Direct links between carbonaceous chondrites and their parent bodies in the solar system are rare. The Winchcombe meteorite is the most accurately recorded carbonaceous chondrite fall. Its pre-atmospheric orbit and cosmic-ray exposure age confirm that it arrived on Earth shortly after ejection from a primitive asteroid. Recovered only hours after f...

The Stac Fada Member is a Mesoproterozoic (1177±5 Ma) single layer ejecta impactite from NW Scotland. Its deposition history is potentially analogous to impactites on Mars and as such, we have compared it to samples of the martian regolith breccia Northwest Africa (NWA) 11220, which is a polymict breccia thought to be representative of the near-sur...

Sieved size fractions (0–25 μm, 25–63 μm, 63–125 μm, and 125–250 μm) and bulk (unsieved) material from lunar soils from Apollo 14 (14163,135 and14259,672), Apollo 15 (15101,319 and 15401,147), and 16 (61220,41, 62231,55 and 67481,96) were analyzed in diffuse reflectance in the mid-infrared (3–18 μm). These soils reflect formation in a range of geol...

Impact glasses found in lunar soils provide a possible window into the impact history of the inner solar system. However, their use for precise reconstruction of this history is limited by an incomplete understanding of the physical mechanisms responsible for their origin and distribution and possible relationships to local and regional geology. He...

In preparation for the upcoming Luna 27 mission to the south polar region of the Moon, the Package for Resource Observation and in-Situ Prospecting for Exploration Commercial exploitation and Transportation (PROSPECT) is undergoing a series of tests to ensure its suitability for polar regolith and volatile analysis. A lunar regolith simulant, NU-LH...

The Stac Fada Member is an ejecta layer in NW Scotland deposited after an impact event approximately 1.2 billion years ago. Aggregates of ash near the top of the layer contain pieces of altered glass with preserved organic material that we interpret as being incorporated during the impact event. By using optical microscopy and micro-Raman spectrosc...

Impact crater central peaks and peak ring complexes are important exploration targets for future missions to other planetary bodies, because they provide access to material uplifted from lower crustal levels. Material exposed there could also provide chronological constraints on crater formation events. Therefore, it is essential to understand if u...

We report the concentrations and isotope ratios of light noble gases (He, Ne, Ar) in 10 small basalt fragments derived from lunar regolith soils at the Apollo 12 landing site. We use cosmic ray exposure (CRE) and shielding condition histories to consider their geological context. We have devised a method of using cosmogenic Ne isotopes to partition...

Future sustained human presence on the Moon will require us to make use of lunar resources. This in-situ resource utilisation (ISRU) process will require suitable feedstock (i.e., lunar regolith) that has been both acquired and prepared (or beneficiated) to set standards. Acquisition of pre-processed regolith, is an often overlooked engineering cha...

The Moon is not volcanically active at present, therefore, we rely on data from lunar samples, remote sensing, and numerical modeling to understand past lunar volcanism. The role of different volatile species in propelling lunar magma ascent and eruption remains unclear. We adapt a terrestrial magma ascent model for lunar magma ascent, considering...

Sample return shows late lunar volcanism Measuring physical samples of Solar System bodies in the laboratory provides more information than is possible from remote sensing alone. In December 2020, the Chang’e-5 mission landed on the Moon, collected samples, and returned them to Earth. Che et al . analyze two fragments of volcanic lunar basalt colle...

Thermally metamorphosed rocks on the Moon are an important, yet under-studied suite of lithologies that have been identified within the Apollo and lunar meteorite collections. These rocks, with granoblastic and poikilitic textures, are generally referred to as granulites. However, unlike their terrestrial counterparts which are the metamorphic prod...

Apatite has been widely used for assessing the volatile inventory and hydrothermal fluid compositions of asteroidal and planetary bodies. We report the OH, F, and Cl abundances, as well as the hydrogen isotope composition, of apatite in the CM1-2 chondrite Boriskino and in the C1-ungrouped Bench Crater meteorite. Apatite in both meteorites is haloge...

We have synthesized and analyzed silicate glasses that are representative for the glasses on the surface of Mercury by mid-infrared reflectance spectroscopy, based on high-pressure laboratory experiments and the resulting compositions of the glass phase. The spectra are of interest for investigating the surface of Mercury using the MERTIS (Mercury...

The practical limitations inherent to human and robotic planetary exploration necessitate the development of specific protocols and methods. This non-standard approach requires testing and validation phases in order to optimize instrumental setups and improve data interpretation; this can occur prior to, during, or even after a mission. Flight inst...

The lunar surface has been exposed to the space environment for billions of years and during this time has accumulated records of a wide range of astrophysical phenomena. These include solar wind particles and the cosmogenic products of solar particle events which preserve a record of the past evolution of the Sun, and cosmogenic nuclides produced...

The lunar surface has been exposed to the space environment for billions of years and during this time has accumulated records of a wide range of astrophysical phenomena. These include solar wind particles and the cosmogenic products of solar particle events which preserve a record of the past evolution of the Sun, and cosmogenic nuclides produced...

The history of organic and biological markers (biomarkers) on the Earth is effectively non-existent in the geological record >3.8 Ga ago. Here, we investigate the potential for terrestrial material (i.e., terrestrial meteorites) to be transferred to the Moon by a large impact on Earth and subsequently survive impact with the lunar surface, using th...

Projectiles striking the Moon have modified its crust and delivered volatile elements to its interior and surface. Direct evidence of impactor origins is recorded by the rare occurrence of sub-cm sized meteorite fragments identified in Apollo samples and lunar meteorites. The Bench Crater meteorite is a millimetre-sized carbonaceous chondrite colle...

Contemporary calculations for the flux of extraterrestrial material falling to the Earth’s surface (each event referred to as a “fall”) rely upon either short-duration fireball monitoring networks or spatially limited ground-based meteorite searches. To date, making accurate fall flux estimates from the much-documented meteorite stranding zones of...

Engineering experiments regarding excavation, sampling, or mobility for rocky planetary surface exploration (Moon, asteroids, the moons of Mars, Mars) often require large test beds filled with hundreds of kilograms of soil. Specifically engineered regolith simulants are costly and often not available in large enough quantities due to limited produc...

Volatile elements (e.g., H, C, N) have a strong influence on the physical and chemical evolution of planets and are essential for the development of habitable conditions. Measurement of the volatile and incompatible heavy halogens, Cl, Br, and I, can provide insight into volatile distribution and transport processes, due to their hydrophilic nature...

Plain Language Summary Lunar‐evolved silica‐rich melt is thought to be related to the formation of highly silicic lithologies (e.g., granitic lithologies). These rock types have been observed in Apollo returned samples as lithic clasts and also have been detected by remote‐sensing data as silicic domes. The Apollo‐evolved lithologies give a wide ra...

The Moon is the only planetary body other than the Earth for which samples have been collected in situ by humans and robotic missions and returned to Earth. Scientific investigations of the first lunar samples returned by the Apollo 11 astronauts 50 years ago transformed the way we think most planetary bodies form and evolve. Identification of anor...

Lunar breccias preserve the records of geologic processes on the Moon. In this study, we report the occurrence, petrography, mineralogy, and geologic significance of the observed secondary olivine veinlets in lunar feldspathic breccia meteorite Northwest Africa (NWA) 11273. Bulk‐rock composition measurements show that this meteorite is geochemicall...

A high-level overview of current research in the area of lunar regolith excavation and handling for In Situ Resource Utilisation (ISRU) is presented. Thirteen processes are grouped into discrete and continuous excavators. A further differentiation is made between systems with and without connection to a mobility platform – referred to as complete a...

On the 50th anniversary since humans first set foot on the Moon, John Pernet-Fisher, Francesca McDonald, Ryan Zeigler and Katherine Joy take a look back at the legacies of the Apollo programme.

We obtained mid-infrared spectra and major-element analyses of glasses produced in pulsed laser experiments of basalt. Materials from pits excavated in a basalt slab, as well as of a larger, separated melt droplet were studied. The results of this study show that these glasses exhibits spectral features clearly distinguishable from the unprocessed...

Lunar anorthosites are known for displaying a limited range of plagioclase An content (∼An 94 to 98). Here we demonstrate that plagioclase trace-element variations from Apollo ferroan anorthosites (FAN) samples (collected by the Apollo 15 and 16 missions) display more significant chemical heterogeneity (e.g., chondrite-normalized [La/Sm] 0.33–5.42)...

Lunar meteorites provide a potential opportunity to expand the study of ancient (>4000 Ma) basaltic volcanism on the Moon, of which there are only a few examples in the Apollo sample collection. Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometry (SIMS) was used to determine the Pb isotopic compositions of multiple mineral phases (Ca-phosphates, baddeleyite K-feldspar...

Please find the open access paper at: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gca.2018.11.026

This study presents the petrography, mineralogy, and bulk composition of lunar regolith breccia meteorite Northwest Africa (NWA) 7948. We identify a range of lunar lithologies including basaltic clasts (very low-titanium and low-titanium basalts), feldspathic lithologies (ferroan anorthosite, magnesian-suite rock, and alkali suite), granulites, imp...

Seven lunar crater sites of granular avalanches are studied utilizing high-resolution images (0.42-1.3 m/pixel) from the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera; one, in Kepler crater, is examined in detail. All the sites are slopes of debris extensively aggraded by frictional freezing at their dynamic angle of repose, four in craters formed in basalti...

Lunar meteorite Northwest Africa (NWA) 5744 is a granulitic breccia with an anorthositic troctolite composition that may represent a distinct crustal lithology not previously described. This meteorite is the namesake and first-discovered stone of its pairing group. Bulk rock major element abundances show the greatest affinity to Mg-suite rocks, yet...

Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy and cathodoluminescence (CL) imaging techniques, combined with electron microprobe analyses, have been used to determine the physical state of feldspathic phases that have been subject to varying levels of shock in the grouped lunar meteorites Miller Range 090034, 090070, and 090075. Six feldspathic ph...

The howardite-eucrite-diogenite (HED) clan of meteorites, which most likely originate from the asteroid Vesta, provide an opportunity to combine in-depth sample analysis with the comprehensive remote-sensing data set from NASA's recent Dawn mission. Miller Range (MIL) 11100, an Antarctic howardite, contains diverse rock and mineral fragments from c...

Meteorites ejected from the surface of the Moon as a result of impact events are an important source of lunar material in addition to Apollo and Luna samples. Here, we report bulk element composition, mineral chemistry, age, and petrography of Miller Range (MIL) 090036 and 090070 lunar meteorites. MIL 090036 and 090070 are both anorthositic regolit...

The Moon is an archive of impact cratering in the Solar System throughout the past 4.5 billion years. It preserves this record better than larger, more complex planets like the Earth, Mars and Venus, which have largely lost their ancient crusts through geological reprocessing and hydrospheric/atmospheric weathering. Identifying the parent bodies of...

Large bodies, such as the Moon, that have remained relatively unaltered for long periods of time have the potential to preserve a record of organic chemical processes from early in the history of the Solar System. A record of volatiles and impactors may be preserved in buried lunar regolith layers that have been capped by protective lava flows. Of...

Despite more than 40 years of studying Apollo samples, the age and early evolution of the Moon remain contentious. Following the formation of the Moon in the aftermath of a giant impact, the resulting Lunar Magma Ocean (LMO) is predicted to have generated major geochemically distinct silicate reservoirs, including the sources of lunar basalts. Samp...

Lunar mare basalts provide insights into the compositional diversity of the Moon's interior. Basalt fragments from the lunar regolith can potentially sample lava flows from regions of the Moon not previously visited, thus, increasing our understanding of lunar geological evolution. As part of a study of basaltic diversity at the Apollo 12 landing s...

Antarctica contains some of the most productive regions on Earth for collecting meteorites. These small areas of glacial ice are known as meteorite stranding zones, where upward-flowing ice combines with high ablation rates to concentrate large numbers of englacially transported meteorites onto their surface. However, meteorite collection data show...

Supplementary Notes 1-3 and Supplementary References

John Pernet-Fisher and Katherine Joy describe how our understanding of lunar crustal formation has evolved over the past few decades.