THE SPECTRAL PROPERTIES OF LUNAR AGGLUTINATES

Introduction: Agglutinates compose approximately half of mature lunar soils, and form when micrometeorite impacts produce glass that welds together other soil particles. This process results in intricate, vesicular, and irregularly shaped particles that are typically brown in color. The dark color of agglutinates is related in part to the small (nm to μm scale) particles of iron contained within the impact glass; this iron is incorporated into agglutinitic glass either via reduction of iron-bearing minerals during the melting process, or through remelting of previously weathered iron-metalbearing soil components [e.g., 1–3]. In spite of their abundance in the regolith and significance for space weathering, few works have focused on the spectroscopy of agglutinate separates [e.g., 4,5]. Here we present results from the spectral characterization of agglutinates separated from six Apollo soil samples of varying composition and maturity (Table 1).