The nature of the lunar crustal dichotomy and its effects in early lunar volcanism

The NASA Postdoctoral Program (NPP) offers unique research opportunities to highly-talented scientists to engage in ongoing NASA research projects at a NASA Center, NASA Headquarters, or at a NASA-affiliated research institute. These one- to three-year fellowships are competitive and are designed to advance NASA's missions in space science, Earth science, aeronautics, space operations, exploration systems, and astrobiology. This specific opportunity focuses on lunar petrology research. The candidate is expected to pursue an independent research program on the subject of lunar petrology, with the main focus combining petrological and remote sensing information with geodynamical modeling to provide an explanation of the lunar crustal dichotomy. The proposed work would incorporate all observations of the lunar crustal dichotomy, including the variations of crustal thickness and chemical differences, as well as the differences in volcanic output on each side of the Moon. A model that manages to explain these disparate observations is key to unraveling early lunar processes such as the cumulate overturn or the magma ocean, and will help understand the genesis of mare volcanism. The project would ideally involve the creation of programs to work with petrological data and to combine them with various modeling techniques.