Lunar meteorites: siderophile element contents, and implications for the composition and origin of the Moon

Data for 10 siderophile elements in all of the known lunar meteorites except for Y793274 are reported. Bulk compositional data for Ni, Ge, Cd, Re, Os, Ir, and Au were obtained from radiochemical neutron activation analysis (Warren et al., 1986). Data for Fe, Co, and Zn, and additional data for Ni, Ir, and Au were obtained by instrumental neutron activation analysis (Kallemeyn et al., 1988). Except for the case of Au in Y791197, there was good agreement between the results obtained by the two methods. The differences observed between the lunar-meteoritic regolith samples and central nearside highlands regolith samples are discussed.