Lunar magma ocean
= Lunar magma ocean
An early extensively molten silicate reservoir in the <Moon>. The flotation model forms an <anorthosite>-rich crust by accumulation of buoyant <plagioclase>, leaving differentiated cumulates and incompatible-element-rich residual liquid beneath. The distribution of late <KREEP>-rich material and the survival of hemispheric chemical gradients are important constraints on proposed explanations of the <lunar crustal dichotomy>.