>>11260634Yes I get that. I poorly phrased my post. Let me try again.
As you said, thorium could have been deposited long ago in that lunar mare. And yes REE’s could also have entered the mare in the same way around the same time. This could explain why the two would exist together on the moon on that mare.
However, we learned that thorium in minerals is an indicator of REE in minerals before the lunar prospector probe, ie on Earth with Earth bound minerals. This knowledge is why researchers stated that thorium indicates REE presence upon receiving the probes lunar telemetry.
My question is why does thorium tend to exist with REE’s in the same mineral samples, both on Earth and on the moon. It can’t simply be that theyre always deposited by eruptions together on Earth...r-right?
