Lunar Minerals Introduction

This section describes the minerals which have been detected on the moon so far. They are arranged into the following groups:

• Silicates
• Oxides
• Sulphides
• Phosphates
• Native Metals
• Meteoritic Minerals

This list includes Major, Minor, and Trace minerals (as described by NASA). Controversial minerals are also included for completeness -- even though they may not be of indigenous lunar origin. Major minerals are defined as those occurring with abundances up to 100%. Minor minerals generally occur at less than 2% although some achieve >10% (eg. ilmenite). Trace minerals never exceed about 0.3%.

None of these descriptions should be considered as complete. People are welcome to add new information (e.g., reactions) as they find it. I have deliberately avoided optical and crystallographic identification data -- this can be found in Deer, Howie and Zussman's An Introduction to the Rock-Forming Minerals. If the reader wishes to learn how to identify minerals along these lines (i.e., using a petrographic microscope), MacKenzie & Guildford's Atlas of Rock-Forming Minerals complements DHZ very well.

References:

1. Deer, Howie, and Zussman, An Introduction to the Rock-Forming Minerals, Longman, 1992, ISBN=0582300940
2. MacKenzie W.S., Guilford C., Atlas of Rock-Forming Minerals in Thin Section, Halstead, 1980, ISBN=0470269219
3. Williams R.J., Jadwick J.J, NASA Ref. Publ. 1057: Handbook of Lunar Materials
, NASA, 1980
4. Heiken, Grant H., David T. Vaniman and Bevan M. French (eds), The Lunar Sourcebook, Cambridge University Press, 1993, ISBN=0521334446