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Natural Alloys of the Cu–Ni System from Impactites of the Lonar Crater (India) and Lunar Regolith

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Abstract—

A comparative study of impact glasses from the Lonar crater, located on the Deccan basalt plateau, India, and impact glasses from lunar regolith delivered by the Soviet automatic stations (AS) Luna-16 and Luna-24 (Sea of Plenty and Sea of Crises) was carried out. Numerous natural alloys (Cu3Ni2, Ni2Cu and Ni3Cu) that were previously unknown in nature were discovered in the impactites of the Lonar crater and the regolith of the Moon. The discovery of such alloys expands the area of isomorphism in the Cu–Ni system. As a result of a comparison of impactites of the Earth and the Moon, similarities were discovered in the composition, size and morphology of particles of copper–nickel alloys, which may be an indicator of impact processes. One of the possible mechanisms for the formation of Ni–Cu particles was condensation from a gas–plasma cloud. A possible source of material for Cu–Ni alloys was both the impactor material and the target material.

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Funding

The work was carried out at the expense of budget funds under the state order of the Geochemical Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences within the framework of the topic FMMZ-2024-0048 “Development of a set of complementary methods for studying the chemical composition, transformation and migration of nano/microparticles and easily mobile forms of elements in the environment, the Earth’s crust and the Lunar regolith.”

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  1. Vernadsky Institute of Geochemistry and Analytical Chemistry (GEOKHI RAS), Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia

    T. A. Gornostaeva, P. M. Kartashov, A. V. Mokhov, A. P. Rybchuk & A. T. Basilevsky

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  1. T. A. Gornostaeva
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  2. P. M. Kartashov
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  3. A. V. Mokhov
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Gornostaeva, T.A., Kartashov, P.M., Mokhov, A.V. et al. Natural Alloys of the Cu–Ni System from Impactites of the Lonar Crater (India) and Lunar Regolith. Sol Syst Res 58, 377–387 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1134/S0038094624700266

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