Proportional counter for X ray emission detection and chemical analysis of lunar surface element

Bredov, M. M.

Konstantinov, V. P.

Viktorov, S. V.

English

NASA Technical Reports Server

National Aeronautics and Space Administration 
Goddard Space Flight Center 
Contract No.NAS-5-12487 
ST- ACH- LS- 10756 
ON THE ANALYSIS OF CHEMICAL COMPOSITION OF MOON'S 
SURFACE BY DIRECT METHODS 
V. P. Ronstantinov 
M. M. Bredov 
S. M, Viktorov ..... ET ..... ..... AL ..... 
(USSR) 
-
-
16 SEPTEMBER 1968 
https://ntrs.nasa.gov/search.jsp?R=19680025481 2020-03-12T06:58:50+00:00Z
ST -ACH -LS - 10756 
Elements * 0 si I A1 hlg C Na % < A d 5  Fe, Co, Ni 
Atomic % 5Sk5 28,5f3 ,5&2 3f3 <3 <2 13k3 >3 
ON THE hALYSIS OF CHEMICAL COMPOSITION OF MOON'S 
SURFACE BY DIRECT METHODS 
A>65 
a 5  
Doklady A.N. S'sSR, Fizika 
Tom 181, No.4, 
str. 827 - 829, 
Izdatel ' s tvo "NAUKA" , 1968. 
by B. P. Konstantinov 
M. M. Bredov, 
S .  V. Viktorov ..... ET AL ...... 
SUMMARY 
applied thus far for the study of 
chemical composition of planet surface layers, the author refer to a new, 
express mothod for making such evaluations, as developed at the Ioffe Insti- 
tute of Physical Engineering of the USSR Academy of Sciences. It consists in 
the use of a special apparatus consisting of sealed proportional counters 
i n  combination with special filters, detecting the X-ray emission of elements. 
After discussing the indirect methods 
* * *  
The chemical composition of a planetary body belongs to the most essen- 
tial characteristics of history of its origin and evolution. Obviously, in 
our case the Moon constitutes an object of first priority in our program of 
study of the chemical compdsition of solar system's planetary body surfaces. 
When making this investigation for the Moon, it is necessary to establish, 
first of all, the general correspondence in the distribution of chemical ele- 
ments on its surface with that on Earth. This problem was partially resolved 
by Soviet scientists in indirect experiments on the study of gamma-activity [l] 
and of X-ray emission of the Moon [2],  conducted from orbital stations, and 
by the efforts of American scientists having materialized the elementary ana- 
lysis of a small area of the lunar surface at the landing place of "Surveyor-5" 
131 
2 
Rock elements  U l t r a -  
b a s i c  
It  may be  seen  from Table  1 [3]  t h a t  t h e  s o i l  i n v e s t i g a t e d  by them con- 
t a i n s  above a l l  oxygen, followed by s i l i ca  and aluminum, which corresponds t o  
t h e  c h a r a c t e r  of d i s t r i b u t i o n  of same elements i n  t h e  E a r t h ' s  l i t o s p h e r e .  
It i s  d i f f i c u l t  t o  d e r i v e  a t  t h e  p re sen t  t i m e  a more c a t e g o r i c a l  conclusion 
on t h e  adequacy of chemical composition of Ea r th  and Moon on account of t h e  
absence of more s p e c i f i c  d a t a  on t h e  conten t  of o t h e r  chemical elements i n  t h e  
s u r f a c e  l a y e r  of t h e  Moon. 
r 
4 
Sodium 
Magnesium 
Alum h u m  
S i l i c a  
Sulphur 
Po t as s ium 
Calcium 
Titanium 
The subsequent problem c o n s i s t s  i n  determining whether t h e  chemical com- 
p o s i t i o n  of t h e  luna r  s u r f a c e  corresponds t o  e i t h e r  type  of terrestrial rocks  
o r  m e t e o r i t i c  matter. Such a kind of i n v e s t i g a t i o n s  conducted over  v a r i o u s  
po r t ions  of t h e  v i s i b l e  and f a r  p a r t s  of l una r  su r face ,  namely i n  t h e  r eg ions  
of maria and con t inen t s ,  craters of v a r i o u s  sizes,  "rays" e tc . ,  w i l l  y i e l d  
an  experimental  material f o r  a subsequent f r u i t f u l  d i scuss ion  of hypotheses 
on Moon's o r i g i n  and evo lu t ion .  
of l una r  s u r f a c e  l a y e r  must be completed by s o i l  a n a l y s i s  a t  va r ious  depths .  
It should be  noted t h a t  t h e  chemical a n a l y s i s  
42,s 
0,57 
25,g 
0,45 
19,O 
0,Ol 
0,03 
0,113 
9,85 
0 , i  
T A B L E  2 
Basic 
43,5 
4,5 
8,76 
24 , 0 
0,03 
0,83 
B,72 
0,9 
8,56 
1,94 
---. 
CONTENT O F  THE MOST WIDESPREAD ELEMENTS fweight %> I N  COARSE TYPES OF 
OF ROCKS OF EARTH'S LITOSPHERE AND STONE METEORITES 
Neut ra l  Acid Sedimentary Stone Meteor- 
i tes  
I I 
46.0 
3-0  
2,18 
8,85 
26.0 
0,02 
P,3 
4 ,65  
0.8 
5,85 
0 ,56  
797 
32,s 
* Together w i t h  t h e  
Compiled i n  Table  2 
spread  chemical e lements  
-----*---------- 
1,x 
10,45 
23 ,8  
I I I I I 
- 
35,O 
0.7 
14 ,o 
1,30 
18,O 
2.0 * 
0,055 
1,40 
0,05 
25.0 * 
1 
I i 
i r o n  phase of chondr i t e s  
are t h e  d a t a  on t h e  average conten t  of t h e  most wide- 
i n  rocks  c o n s t i t u t i n g  t h e  E a r t h ' s  l i t o s p h e r e  and 
i n  s t o n e  meteor i tes . (These  d a t a  r e f l e c t  on ly  t h e  average concen t r a t ion  of ele- 
ments i n  some coa r se  c a t e g o r i e s  of rocks.  Thus f o r  t h e  i n t e r p r e t a t i o n  of ex- 
per imenta l  r e s u l t s  one should t a k e  i n t o  account t h e  depa r tu re s  from t h e  
va lues  presented  here .  
conten t  i n  elements on s e p a r a t e  p o r t i o n  of l una r  s u r f a c e  w i l l  no t  correspond 
t o  e i t h e r  of t h e  considered c a t e g o r i e s ) .  
Not excluded is  a l s o  t h e  p o s s i b i l i t y  t h a t  t h e  measured 
L e t  u s  examine which, among t h e  elements,  are t h e  most r e p r e s e n t a t i v e  
from t h e  s t andpo in t  of our a t tempt  t o  d i s t i n g u i s h  by them the v a r i o u s  c a t e g o r i e s  
of rocks.  I n  ou r  opin ion ,  t h e  most widespread elements on Ea r th  and i n  s t o n e  
m e t e o r i t e s ,  i. e. oxygen and s i l i ca ,  are n o t  t h e  most p r a c t i c a l  i n  this  regard  
3 
-I 
inasmuch as t h e i r  con ten t  i s  s u f f i c i e n t l y  cons tan t  i n  a l l  c a t e g o r i e s  of 
rocks .  By content  i n  sodium one may d i s t i n g u i s h  u l t r a b a s i c  (0.57%) and 
sedimentary rocks (0.66%) from t h e  remaining ones.  To d i s t i n g u i s h  t h e  
n e u t r a l  (3 ,0%) from a c i d  rocks  (2.77%), w i l l  apparent ly  be impossible .  
A somewhat more f avorab le  r e l a t i o n  e x i s t s  i n  sodium content  of b a s i c  (1.94%) 
and n e u t r a l  (3%) rocks.  
Analys is  of magnesium al lows t o  determine o u t r i g h t  t o  which ca tegory  
, t h e  rock belongs,  namely t o  u l t r a b a s i c  (25.9%), inasmuch as i ts  content  i n  
them is h ighe r  than  i n  o t h e r  rocks  by a f a c t o r  of 6 - 46. S u f f i c i e n t l y  
w e l l  d i s t i ngu i shed  among themselves are t h e  concen t r a t ions  i n  magnesium of 
o t h e r  rocks.  Therefore ,  magnesium is q u i t e  convenient f o r  t h e  determina- 
t i o n  of specimen's belonging t o  e i t h e r  ca tegory  of rocks.  
A rock can be  c l a s s i f i e d  o u t r i g h t  i n  t h e  u l t r a b a s i c  ca tegory  by i t s  
low aluminum content  (0.45%). However, us ing  aluminum as a r e f e r e n c e  f o r  
d i s t i n g u i s h i n g  b a s i c  rocks  (8.76%) from n e u t r a l  (8.85%), ac id  (7.7%) and 
even sedimentary ones (10.45%) appears  t o  be d i f f i c u l t .  
By i ts  potassium con ten t  one apparent ly  may judge on sample belonging t o  
u l t r a b a s i c  (0.03%), b a s i c  (0.83%) o r  o t h e r  rock ca t egor i e s .  The low concen- 
t r a t i o n  i n  potassium p o i n t s  t o  i ts belonging t o  u l t r a b a s i c  rocks  (0.7%),  a 
s i g n i f i c a n l l y  h ighe r  concen t r a t ion  (6.72 and 4.65%) is a n  i n d i c a t i o n  of i t s  
belonging t o  b a s i c  o r  n e u t r a l  t ypes ,  wh i l e  t h e  in t e rmed ia t e  (2.53 and 1.58%) 
r e f e r s  t h e  specimen t o  sedimentary or a c i d  rocks.  
and t i t an ium is  cons iderably  d i f f e r e n t  i n  v a r i o u s  types of rocks ;  however, 
t h e i r  g e n e r a l  conten t  i s  r a t h e r  low (bes ides  t h e  anomalous case of h igh  su l -  
phur conten t  i n  chondr i t e s ) .  
The concen t r a t ion  i n  sulphur  
Finally., by i r o n  conten t  one may judge whether t h e  sample belongs t o  u l t r a -  
b a s i c  and b a s i c  rocks  (9.85 and 8.56%), t o  n e u t r a l  (5.85%1, o r  ac id  and sed i -  
mentary rocks  (2.7 and 3.33%). Therefore ,  one should r e f e r  magnesium, potas-  
sium, calcium, su lphur  and i r o n  t o  t h e  number of t h e  most r e p r e s e n t a t i v e  ele- 
ments ( f o r  more d e t a i l s  see [ 4 ] ) .  
The (a,a)- and (a, p)- reac t ion  method*, u t i l i z e d  i n  t h e  work by t h e  
American t e a m ,  does  n o t  a l low us t o  determine t h e  concen t r a t ion  of each of 
t h e  most r e p r e s e n t a t i v e  elements  i n  complex mixtures  of unknown composition 
(which are c h a r a c t e r i s t i c  of p l ane ta ry  body s u r f a c e s ) ,  a t  least i n  t h e  con- 
temporary form of t h e i r  ope ra t ion .  This  c i rcumstance prevented t h e  au tho r s  
of [3 ]  t o  r e f e r  w i t h  a g r e a t e r  unambiguity t h e  rock  of t h e  i n v e s t i g a t e d  area 
t o  s p e c i f i c  ca tegory ,  though t h e i r  da t a re spond  t o t h e  f u l l e s t  ex t en t  t o  t h e  
composition of b a s i c  rocks;  t h e  r e s u l t s  of t h e  a n a l y s i s  p a r t i a l l y  correspond 
t o  n e u t r a l ,  sedimetary and a c i d  rocks ,  w h i l e  t h e  concen t r a t ion  of groups of 
n e u t r a l  and heavy elements p o i n t  t o  t h e  p o s s i b i l i t y  of t h e  presence of i n t r o -  
duced m e t e o r i t i c  material. Note t h a t  according t o  t h e  r e s u l t s  of i n t e r p r e t a t  
t i o n  of gamma-ray s p e c t r a  obta ined  from AMs "LUNA-10'' [l], a c i d  rocks  were 
r e j e c t e d .  
* f o r  more d e t a i l s  r e f e r  t o  [6]. 
4 
Analysis of comparative characteristics of contemporary methods of deter- 
mination of matter's chemical composition applicably to the study of some areas 
of Moon's and other planets' surfaces has indicated 14, 71 that, considered 
from the standpoint of clarity and expressiveness of the information provided, the 
possibilities of the roentgen-isotopidspectro-chemical analysis are of special 
practical interest. Such an X-ray isotopic fluorescent method has been put in 
practice at the Ioffe Institute of Physical Engineering of the USSR Academy 
of Sciences and applied for the analysis of basic rock forming chemical ele- 
ments in unprepared surfaces [8,9]. 
Radioactive sources were used in the apparatus thus worked out for the 
excitation of characteristic X-ray emission of chemical elements present in 
the soil. In order to detect the characteristic emission, sealed-off pro- 
portional counter of soft X-rays were used. The utilizationof proportional 
counters in combination with characteristic filters (potassium, silicium, mag - 
nesium etc.) provides the possibility to determine the concentration of various 
elements, including the most representative ones, say, magnesium, potassium, 
calcium sulphur and iron. 
The above method and appartus can be utilized for conducting express-ana- 
lysis of the chemical composition of the surfaces of the Moon, Mars, Venus 
and other planetary bodies of the solar system. 
In conclusion, we deem it our assumed duty to extend our thanks to 
V. V. Petrov Yu. N. Starbunov for constructive discussions and comments 
relative to questions of the current work. 
The Ioffe Institute of Physical Engineering 
of the USSR Academy of Sc. 
Received on 
5 May 1968. 
Contract No.NAS-5-12487 
VOLT INFORMATION SCIENCES, INC 
WASHINGTON D.C. 20036. 
Telephone: 223-6700 (X-36) 
1145 - 19th St.NW 
Translated by ANDRE L. BRICHANT 
on 14 September 1968 
References follow../.. 
ST -ACH -LS -10 56 
R E F E R E N C E S  
5 
[ 41  
t71 Y 
[81 
[91 
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S. V. VIKTOROV, G, V. KIR'YAN, G .  E. KOCHAROV. 0 predpolagayemom khi- 
micheskom sostave poverkhnosti Luny i vozmozhnykh metodakh 
yeye issledovaniya (On the assumed chemical composition 
of Moon's surface and possible methods for its study). 
Otchet Fiz.Tekhn.Inst,im.IOFFE AN SSSR, No.0-189, 
1967. 
J. H. PATTERSON, A. L. TURKEVICH, E. FRANZGROTE. J.G.R. 70, 6 ,  1311, 1965. 
S .  V. VIKTOROV. G. V. KIR'YAN, 6. E. KOCHAROV. Nekotoryyevoprosy issle- 
dovaniya khimicheskogo sostava lunnogo grunta PO programme 
ing to Surveyor program). Lektsiya v V yezhegodnoy zimney 
SAME AUTHORS.- Sovremennoye sostoyaniye voprosa ob issledovanii khimiches- 
Surveyor" (Some question on lunar soil composition accord- " 
shkole PO kosmofizike, Apatity, 1968. 
kogo sostava lunnoy poverkhnosti pryamymi metodami (Present 
status of the question of Moon surface investigation by 
direct methods). Ibid. Apatity, 1968. 
SAME AUTHORS.- Rentgenovskiy spektrokhimicheskiy analiz (X-ray Spectro- 
chemical analysis) Ibid. No.0 - 190, 1967. 
S. V. VIKTOROV, G. V. KIR'YAN ET AL. Ispol'zovaniye metoda fil trov 
v nedispersionnom rentgenovskom spektrokhimicheskom analize 
na osnovnyye porodu-obrazuyushchiye elementy (Utilization 
of the filter method ih the nondispersional roentgen spec- 
trochemical analysis of basic rock-forming elements). Ib. 
N0.O - 191, 1967 


On the Analysis of Chemical Composition of Moon's Surface by Direct Methods

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