Science. 1995 May 26;268(5214):1150-3. doi: 10.1126/science.268.5214.1150.
The abundance and distribution of iron on the moon is derived from a near-global data set from Clementine. The determined iron content of the lunar highlands crust ( approximately 3 percent iron by weight) supports the hypothesis that much of the lunar crust was derived from a magma ocean. The iron content of lower crustal material exposed by the South Pole-Aitken impact basin on the lunar farside is higher ( approximately 7 to 8 percent by weight) and consistent with a basaltic composition. This composition supports earlier evidence that the lunar crust becomes more mafic with depth. The data also suggest that the bulk composition of the moon differs from that of the Earth's mantle. This difference excludes models for lunar origin that require the Earth and moon to have the same compositions, such as fission and coaccretion, and favors giant impact and capture.
月球上铁的丰度和分布是由克莱门汀号的近全球数据集推导出来的。月球高地地壳的确定铁含量（约 3%重量铁）支持了这样的假说，即月球地壳的大部分是源自一个岩浆海洋。由月球远侧南极-艾肯撞击盆地暴露的下地壳物质的铁含量更高（约 7 到 8%重量铁），并且与玄武岩组成一致。这种组成支持了早期的证据，表明月球地壳随着深度的增加而变得更加镁铁质。这些数据还表明，月球的整体成分与地球地幔的不同。这种差异排除了月球起源模型需要地球和月球具有相同组成的模型，如裂变和共吸积，而有利于巨碰撞和捕获。
