The Moon formed rapidly and at high temperatures, which likely resulted in a global magma ocean covering its surface. As the molten rock gradually cooled and solidified, it created a stratified cumulate mantle dominated by olivine- and orthopyroxene-rich lithologies (harzburgites, dunites) and a flotation cumulate anorthosite crust. This process set the stage for the Moon’s complex geological evolution.
Recent Findings
Recent research has shown that partial melts of ilmenite-bearing cumulates react with olivine and orthopyroxene, shifting the melt composition to that of the high-Ti suite. This reaction is critical for understanding the origin of titanium-rich basaltic magmatism on the Moon, as ilmenite-bearing cumulates in the lunar mantle were previously considered the primary source of these melts. However, their partial melts are not a compositional match and are too dense to enable eruption.