KREEP

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KREEP is an acronym used in geochemistry to represent a mixture of K-potassium, REE-rare earth elements, and P-phosphorus. It is not only the main source of these elements on the moon, but also many other trace elements such as uranium, thorium, fluorine, chlorine, and zirconium.

Applications

It is considered a convenient tracer for researchers seeking to chronicle the volcanic history of the lunar surface, as well as impacts of celestial bodies.

KREEP as an Ore

"On the Moon, elements have not been concentrated into what we would call ores through geological processing in the presence of water. We have instead "poor ores" if you can call them ores at all.

So wherever we find special concentrations, these are certainly places to consider in mining and processing operations. We will want to get beyond the new stone age on the Moon, and have a post-Flintstonian civilization :-)

So to get alloy ingredients for workable metals, nutrients for agriculture, industrial reagents and much more, special concentrations such as ilmenite and KREEP will play a vital role." - Peter Kokh

Fluorine - useful in fluorine reaction of regolith to produce oxygen
Sodium - industrially can be used to dope mare basalt in order to lower its melting point far enough so that it can be used as a glass matrix for glass fibers made from highland regolith with a higher melting point.
Potassium - can be used industrially for doping basalt (see sodium). Agriculturally it is an important component of some fertilizers.
Phosphorus - Also an important component in some agricultural fertilizers
Thorium - Useful as a fuel in some nuclear reactors, as well as an ingredient in some super alloys
Uranium - A nuclear power source

Rare Earth Elements

Origins and Distribution

Many scientists consider this component of lunar rocks to be the remnant of a magma ocean which covered the surface of the moon approximately 4.5 billion years ago after the moon formed by accretion from debris cast out in a cataclysmic collision between earth and another celestial body about the size of mars.

KREEP is a composite of what scientists term "incompatible elements": elements which cannot fit into the crystal structures formed by cooling magma. This resulted in a KREEP rich magma sandwiched between the floating anorthositic plagioclase of the lunar crust and the precipitating minerals that formed the mantle. Although it was common belief that this process would form an evenly distributed global layer of KREEP magma, the Gamma Ray Spectrometer aboard Lunar Prospector shows that KREEP is mainly concentrated in the area of Oceanus Procellarum and Mare Imbrium. This unusual geological region is now referred to as the Procellarum KREEP Terrane. Deep penetrating impact basins away from this region show only modest or no KREEP concentrations in their ejecta and rims.

KREEP is kicked up in the ejecta or "splash out" produced in impacts taking place on or in close proximity to basaltic lava flows, as well as in major impacts which penetrate the crust. Some of this splash out was brought back by the Apollo 15 mission in fragments generally smaller than 1cm. These samples are believed to have originated after the impact which formed the Imbrium basin[1].