Word: basalt
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Dates: during 1970-1979
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...probably not molten and never has been; Sonett thinks that it consists of rock similar to earthly olivine, which is rich in iron and is also found in meteorites. Around the core is a 60-mile-thick transition zone, or lower mantle, composed of a mixture of olivine and basalt-like rock that was apparently formed out of molten material. Next comes the 150-mile-thick upper mantle, an entirely basaltic layer in which, some lunar scientists suspect, there may have been slow-moving convection currents -movements roughly akin to those that occur in a simmering pot of oatmeal...