Uncommon behavior of plagioclase and the ancient lunar crust

Abstract

Calcic plagioclase, the dominant mineral of the anorthositic lunar crust, fails to show the Na enrichment during cooling that is typical of magmatic plagioclase. We show that this enigmatic behavior may arise during fractionation of highly calcic plagioclase at depths greater than ~70 km in the lunar magma ocean because of the development of a negative azeotropic configuration at high anorthite contents that impedes and may even reverse the standard plagioclase albite enrichment with dropping temperature. This result supports a high-pressure origin of this plagioclase consistent with the lunar magma ocean model. It also provides a new mechanism for forming lunar lithologies with sodic plagioclase from a highly Na-depleted Moon through gravitational settling of spinel and refines the compositional characteristics of the late stage residual liquids of the lunar magma ocean.