Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jul 21, 2026

Simulation of the Planetary Interior Differentiation Processes in the Laboratory
Published on: November 15, 2013
Pinpointing the source of a lunar meteorite: implications for the evolution of the Moon
Edwin Gnos1, Beda A Hofmann, Ali Al-Kathiri
1Institut für Geologie, Universität Bern, Baltzerstrasse 1, CH-3012 Bern, Switzerland. gnos@geo.unibe.ch
Abstract:
The lunar meteorite Sayh al Uhaymir 169 consists of an impact melt breccia extremely enriched with potassium, rare earth elements, and phosphorus [thorium, 32.7 parts per million (ppm); uranium, 8.6 ppm; potassium oxide, 0.54 weight percent], and adherent regolith. The isotope systematics of the meteorite record four lunar impact events at 3909 +/- 13 million years ago (Ma), approximately 2800 Ma, approximately 200 Ma, and <0.34 Ma, and collision with Earth sometime after 9.7 +/- 1.3 thousand years ago. With these data, we can link the impact-melt breccia to Imbrium and pinpoint the source region of the meteorite to the Lalande impact crater.
Related Concept Videos
Conditions on Early Earth
Conditions on Early Earth
Circular Orbits and Critical Velocity for Satellites
Nicolaus Copernicus (1473-1543) first suggested that the Earth and all other planets orbit the Sun in...
Simple Harmonic Motion and Uniform Circular Motion
There is an easy way to produce simple harmonic motion by using uniform circular motion. For instance, consider a ball attached to a uniformly rotating...
Gravitation
Impact: Problem Solving
By designating the launch point as the origin and utilizing kinematic equations, the vertical component of the projectile's velocity at the point of impact is...

