Abstract
The Moon generated a long-lived core dynamo magnetic field, with
intensities at least episodically reaching ~10–100 µT
during the period prior to ~3.56 Ga. While magnetic
anomalies observed within impact basins are likely attributable to the
presence of impactor-added metal, other anomalies such as those
associated with lunar swirls are not as conclusively linked to exogenic
materials. This has led to the hypothesis that some anomalies may be
related to magmatic features such as dikes, sills, and laccoliths.
However, basalts returned from the Apollo missions are magnetized too
weakly to produce the required magnetization intensities
(>0.5 A/m). Here we test the hypothesis that subsolidus
reduction of ilmenite within or adjacent to slowly cooled mafic
intrusive bodies could locally enhance metallic FeNi contents within the
lunar crust. We find that reduction within hypabyssal dikes with high-Ti
or low-Ti mare basalt compositions can produce sufficient FeNi grains to
carry the minimum >0.5 A/m magnetization intensity inferred
for swirls, especially if ambient fields are >10 μT or if
fine-grained Fe-Ni metals in the pseudo-single domain grain size range
are formed. Therefore, it is plausible that the magnetic sources
responsible for long sublinear swirls like Reiner Gamma and Airy may be
magmatic in origin. Our study highlights that the domain state of the
magnetic carriers is an under-appreciated factor in controlling a rock’s
magnetization intensity. The results of this study will help guide
interpretations of lunar crustal field data acquired by future rovers
that will traverse lunar magnetic anomalies.