ArticleNature communications2023
Rapid transition from primary to secondary crust building on the Moon explained by mantle overturn.
Article in Nature communications, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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Who cites it
2 citing papers in PubMed, 18 citations in OpenAlex.
- Lunar farside-nearside asymmetry formation during magma ocean solidification.National science review · 2026Article
- Novel geological framework to understand the origin and diversity of orthopyroxene, olivine, spinel (OOS) lithologies on the Moon.Scientific reports · 2025Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
4 authors at 4 institutions in 3 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Geochronology indicates a rapid transition (tens of Myrs) from primary to secondary crust building on the Moon. The processes responsible for initiating secondary magmatism, however, remain in debate. Here we test the hypothesis that the earliest secondary crust (Mg-suite) formed as a direct consequence of density-driven mantle overturn, and advance 3D mantle convection models to quantify the resulting extent of lower mantle melting. Our modeling demonstrates that overturn of thin ilmenite-bearing cumulates ≤ 100 km triggers a rapid and short-lived episode of lower mantle melting which explains the key volume, geochronological, and spatial characteristics of early secondary crust building without contributions from other energy sources, namely KREEP (potassium, rare earth elements, phosphorus, radiogenic U, Th). Observations of globally distributed Mg-suite eliminate degree-1 overturn scenarios. We propose that gravitational instabilities in magma ocean cumulate piles are major driving forces for the onset of mantle convection and secondary crust building on differentiated bodies.
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Registered trials
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