Lunar meteorites, owing to their brecciated nature, provide a more random and
representative sampling of the global lunar surface than samples recovered by the Apollo and
Luna missions. While lunar meteorites are useful for constraining the petrogenetic history of the
lunar interior, the role of impacts must be considered when interpreting lunar meteorites, as
shock metamorphism can physically and chemically alter originally pristine lunar materials. Our
objective is to assess the degree of shock processing within lithic clasts from a diverse suite of
lunar meteorites to develop a “shock index” that can be used to disentangle the secondary effects
of shock metamorphism and filter out heavily shocked lithic clasts from pristine, unaltered lithic
clasts; our long-term goals seek to better understand 1) the role of impacts in modifying lunar
materials and 2) the origin of those materials. For the second part of this project, we applied a
combined chemical-crystallographic analysis of different mineral phases within lithic clasts in
lunar meteorites NWA 13531 and NWA 14900 using a novel approach with electron microscopy
techniques (SEM/EDX + EBSD using a Zeiss Sigma VP FEG SEM). Lithic clasts in NWA
13531 display a higher degree of deformation than the surrounding matrix and are cut across by
pervasive amorphous veins. A heavily deformed dunite clast in NWA 14900 displays evidence
for fragmentation and excavation from depth, possibly from the lunar mantle. The results from
this study indicate that lithic clasts in lunar meteorites record multiple deformation events and
require careful examination using EBSD.