Evolution of lunar soil grain-size and shape parameters

Abstract

The stratigraphy of the few meters of soil exposed on the lunar surface provides a long record of lunar history. Deep cores returned by the Apollo 15 and 16 missions provide the first extensive sampling of this stratigraphy. The core strings containing the deep cores each consist of six stem segments, which allow a maximum penetration of approximately 242 cm. In the present study, the results of grain size and shape analyses are presented for samples from the Apollo 15 and 16 cores.