15376 (4) Green Volcanic Glass
Collection:
Click the microscope button to view a thin section for this sample.
Microscope
Click the microscope button to view a thin section for this sample.
Microscope

Fact sheet

15376 (4) Green Volcanic Glass

Clods of green glass (numbered 15365­ to 15377) were collected as part of a rake sample around Spur crater and the “soil” from this bag (15310 to 15314) also contained a lot of green glass fragments due to abrasion. Other clods were grouped and numbered 15425-15427. A large soil sample (15300-15304) was also found to contain numerous green glass spheres and green glass clods. Various soils, regolith breccias and cores from this site also contain an abundance of the same, green glass beads. Some portions of the green glass clods are nearly pure green glass, but other portions of these clods also contain various amounts of local (grey) regolith. Quenching experiments suggest the glass was formed by volcanic fire-fountaining. Dark brown glass fragments lack the rounded form of the green glass spheres and contain indistinct olivine dendrites (rotations 1 & 2).

The combined sample weighed ~500 grams before analysis and has been dated at 3.38±0.06 billion years (Ar/Ar).

Further details of this and other Apollo samples are here: http://curator.jsc.nasa.gov/lunar/

The mounting resin of this thin section has deteriorated over time and now contains clusters of colourful dendrites within and around the thin section.

Additional images
  • Separated glass beads
About this collection

The Apollo 15 landing site was in the Apennine Highlands, and close to Hadley Rille — a long, narrow winding valley. Approximately 76 kg of lunar material, including soil, rock, core-tube and deep-core samples, were returned to Earth.

This mission was the first flight of the Lunar Roving Vehicle which allowed the astronauts to venture further from the Lunar Module than in previous missions. During three periods of extravehicular activity, or EVA, on July 31st, and August 1st and 2nd, Scott and Irwin completed a record 18 hours, 37 minutes of exploration, travelling 17.5 miles, in the first car that humans had ever driven on the Moon.

Apollo 15 was launched on 26 July 1971.

Sample details

Collection: Apollo 15
Type
igneous
Rock-forming mineral
olivine
glass
Category guide  
Category Guide
Title
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Description
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Accessory minerals
Minerals that occur in very low abundance in a rock. They are usually not visible with the naked eye and contribute perhapssver, they often dominate the rare elements such as platinum group metals.
Rock-forming minerals
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Theme
A term used to group together related samples that are not already gathered into a single Collection. For instance, there is a ‘SW England granites’ theme that includes such rock types as granite, hydrothermal breccia, skarn and vein samples.
Category
A general term used to label a rock sample. It is a useful way of grouping similar samples throughout a collection. Category names are often, but not exclusively, common rock names (e.g. granite, basalt, dolerite, gabbro, greisen, skarn, gneiss, amphibolite, limestone, sandstone).
Owner
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We would like to thank the following for the use of this sample: