Samples of lunar rocks returned by Apollo astronauts show large variations in titanium oxide abundance, indicating complex compositional zonation within the lunar mantle.
This titanium oxide is likely derived from the mineral ilminite (FeTiO2), and accurately determining ilminite abundances for the entire lunar surface through remote sensing methods is a long-standing goal of the lunar science community. Noting that ilminite has very low reflective properties, Robinson et al. use images of the Moon's surface taken by the Hubble Space Telescope and determine where ilminite is present by comparing variations in the reflectance of ultraviolet and visible light. They find that areas of high and low ilminite abundance match well with expected values, based on rocks collected by astronauts of the Apollo missions, but the ilminite abundances do not give insight into the ages of lunar soils. The authors expect that their method of remotely mapping the titanium oxide on the lunar surface will enable more refined studies of lunar crustal composition and can guide future human exploration of the Moon.-American Geophysical Union
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