Lunar And Planetary Science

The only work to date to collect data gathered during the American and Soviet missions in an accessible and complete reference of current scientific and technical information about the Moon.

"A balanced biography of Gerard P. Kuiper and his critical role in the emergence of modern planetary science"--Provided by publisher.

Discusses the geology and geophysics of Venus; the lunar highlands and regolith; magmatic processes of the moon and meteorites; remote sensing of the moon and Mars; chondrites, cosmic dust, and comets; ammonia-water mixtures; and the evolution of volcanism, tectonics, and volatiles on Mars. Attention is given to volcanism on Venus, pristine moon rocks, the search for Crisium Basin ejecta, Apollo 14 glasses, lunar anorthosites, the sources of mineral fragments in impact melts 15445 and 15455, and argon adsorption in the lunar atmosphere. Also high-pressure experiments on magnesian eucrite compositions, the early results of thermal diffusion in metal-sulfide liquids, preliminary results of imaging spectroscopy of the Humorum Basin region of the moon, high-resolution UV-visible spectroscopy of lunar red spots, and a radar-echo model for Mars. Other topics include nitrogen isotopic signatures in the Acapulco Meteorite, tridymite and maghemite formation in an Fe-SiO smoke, and the enigma of mottled terrain on Mars.

The topics discussed include lunar endogenic rocks and processes; lunar regoliths and breccias; the terrestrial planets; shergottites; primitive materials, exposure, and atmospheres; and impacts and crater tectonics. Papers are presented on the petrology and geochemistry of alkali gabbronorites from lunar breccia 67975; the formation of Apollo 17 orange and black glass beads; mixing levels, the Apennine Front soil component, and compositional trends in the Apollo 15 soils; the meteorite component of Apollo 16 noritic impact melt breccias; and constraints on the lithospheric structure of Venus from mechanical models and tectonic surface features. Consideration is also given to a fractal interpretation of topography and geoid spectra on the Earth, moon, Venus, and Mars; rare earth patterns in shergottite phosphates and residues; nuclide production by primary cosmic-ray protons; gas chromatographic instrumentation for the analysis of aerosols and gases in Titan's atmosphere; and finite-element models of non-Newtonian crater relaxation.