Abstract

Thirteen glasses from Apollo 17 regolith 71501,262 have been chemically analyzed by electron microprobe and isotopically dated with the 40Ar/59Ar dating method. We report here the first isotopic age obtained for the Apollo 17 very low titanium (VLT) volcanic glasses, 3630 ± 40 Ma. Twelve impact glasses that span a wide compositional range have been found to record ages ranging from 102 ± 20 Ma to 3740 ± 50 Ma. The compositions of these impact glasses show that some have been produced by impact events within the Apollo 17 region, whereas others appear to be exotic to the landing site. As the data sets that include compositions and ages of lunar impact glasses increase, the impact history in the Earth-Moon system will become better constrained. © The Meteoritical Society, 2009.