Petrography and classification of Apollo 17 non-mare rocks with emphasis on samples from the Station 6 boulder

Abstract

The Apollo 17 non-mare rock collection consists largely of polymict breccias lithified by impact. These rocks are characterized by a variety of types of lithic clasts, concentrations of siderophile elements that indicate substantial meteoritic contamination, and contents of metallic iron well above those of mare basalts. A small fraction of the non-mare collection consists of isolated rocks and lithic clasts that lack these characteristics and are potentially igneous or meta-igneous rocks derived from unknown depths in the lunar interior.