High Crystallization Temperatures Indicated for Igneous Rocks from Tranquillity Base

Complex intergrowths of troilite (FeS) and iron in the igneous rocks from Tranquillity Base contain 8.4 percent native iron by volume. The intergrowths were derived from an initially homogeneous sulfide liquid that separated immiscibly from the magma at 1140 degrees C or above. Textures show that the sulfide liquid formed late in the crystallization and cooling history of the igneous rocks and after the major ilmenite and pyroxene had formed.