The search for water on the surface of the anhydrous Moon had remained an unfulfilled quest for 40 years. However, the Moon Mineralogy Mapper (M3) on Chandrayaan-1 has recently detected absorption features near 2.8 to 3.0 micrometers on the surface of the Moon. For silicate bodies, such features are typically attributed to hydroxyl- and/or water-bearing materials. On the Moon, the feature is seen as a widely distributed absorption that appears strongest at cooler high latitudes and at several fresh feldspathic craters. The general lack of correlation of this feature in sunlit M3 data with neutron spectrometer hydrogen abundance data suggests that the formation and retention of hydroxyl and water are ongoing surficial processes. Hydroxyl/water production processes may feed polar cold traps and make the lunar regolith a candidate source of volatiles for human exploration.

[1] High-resolution compositional data from Moon Mineralogy Mapper (M 3 ) for the Moscoviense region on the lunar farside reveal three unusual, but distinctive, rock types along the inner basin ring. These are designated "OOS" since they are dominated by high concentrations of orthopyroxene, olivine, and Mg-rich spinel, respectively. The OOS occur as small areas, each a few kilometers in size, that are widely separated within the highly feldspathic setting of the basin rim. Although the abundance of plagioclase is not well constrained within the OOS, the mafic mineral content is exceptionally high, and two of the rock types could approach pyroxenite and harzburgite in composition. The third is a new rock type identified on the Moon that is dominated by Mg-rich spinel with no other mafic minerals detectable (<5% pyroxene, olivine). All OOS surfaces are old and undisturbed since basin formation. They are effectively invisible in image data and are only recognized by their distinctive composition identified spectroscopically. The origin of these unusual lithologies appears to be linked to one or more magmatic intrusions into the lower crust, perhaps near the crust-mantle interface. Processes such as fractional crystallization and gravity settling within such intrusions may provide a mechanism for concentrating the mafic components within zones several kilometers in dimension. The OOS are embedded within highly anorthositic material from the lunar crust; they may thus be near contemporaneous with crustal products from the cooling magma ocean.

[1] The last major phases of lunar volcanism produced spectrally unique high-titanium basalts on the western nearside of the Moon. The Moon Mineralogy Mapper (M 3 ) on Chandrayaan-1 has provided detailed measurements of these basalts at spatial and spectral resolutions necessary for mineralogical interpretation and mapping of distinct compositional units. The M 3 imaging spectrometer acquired data in 85 spectral bands from ∼430 to 3000 nm at 140 to 280 m/pixel in its global mapping mode during the first half of 2009. Reflectance data of several key sites in the western maria were also acquired at higher spatial and spectral resolutions using M 3 's target mode, prior to the end of the Chandrayaan-1 mission. These new observations confirm that both fresh craters and mare soils within the western high-Ti basalts display strong 1 mm and weak 2 mm absorptions consistent with olivine-rich basaltic compositions. The inferred abundance of olivine is observed to correlate with stratigraphic sequence across different mare regions and absolute ages. The apparent stratigraphic evolution and Fe-rich compositions of these basalts as a whole suggest an origin from evolved residual melts rather than through the assimilation of more primitive olivine-rich sources. Mare deposits with spectral properties similar to these late stage high-Ti basalts appear to be very limited outside the Procellarum-Imbrium region of the Moon and, where present, appear to occur as small areas of late stage regional volcanism. Detailed analyses of these new data and supporting measurements are in progress to provide further constraints on the mineralogy, olivine abundance, and compositions of these final products of lunar volcanism and the nature and evolution of their source regions.

This conclusion, however, has not been universally accepted by the scientific community. A recent and thorough discussion of these ongoing issues can be found in Nolan, et al. (2001). q Results of our mineralogical characterization studies, chemical leach tests, and AVIRIS mapping provide further support for the EPA and New York Department of Public Health recommendations that cleanup of dusts and the WTC debris should be done with appropriate respiratory protection and dust control measures. These results include: the presence of up to 20 volume % chrysotile in material coating steel beams in the WTC debris (which could be unintentionally released into the air as dust during cleanup); the small areas in the AVIRIS mineral maps indicating that asbestos might be found in localized concentrations in the dusts; the highly alkaline nature of the dusts; and, the presence of potentially bioavailable metals in the dusts.

[1] Analysis of high resolution Moon Mineralogy Mapper (M 3 ) data reveals the presence of a prominent Mg-spinel-rich lithology in the central peaks of Theophilus crater on the lunar nearside. Other peak-associated lithologies are comprised of plagioclase, olivine, and pyroxene-bearing materials. A consistent spatial association of Mg-spinel with mafic-free anorthosite is recognized. Documentation of Theophilus central peaks brings the global inventory of Mg-spinel-rich lithology to two widely separated occurrences, namely Theophilus on the lunar nearside and Moscoviense basin on the farside. The Theophilus crater target region lies on one of the inner rings of the Nectaris basin, indicating that the Mg-spinel-bearing lithology source was deep in the lunar crust.