lunar global shape and polar topography derived from kaguya lalt laser altimetry a global lunar topographic map with a spatial resolution of finer than 0 5 degree has been derived using data from the laser altimeter lalt on board the japanese lunar explorer selenological and engineering explorer selene or kaguya in comparison with the previous unified lunar control network ulcn 2005 model the new map reveals unbiased lunar topography for scales finer than a few hundred kilometers spherical harmonic analysis of global topographic data for the moon earth mars and venus suggests that isostatic compensation is the prevailing lithospheric support mechanism at large scales however simple rigid support is suggested to dominate for the moon venus and mars for smaller scales which may indicate a drier lithosphere than on earth especially for the moon and venus

discoveries on the lithology of lunar crater central peaks by selene spectral profiler 1 the spectral profiler sp onboard the japanese selene kaguya spacecraft is now providing global high spectral resolution visible near infrared continuous reflectance spectra of the moon the reflectance spectra of impact craters on the farside of the moon reveal lithologies that were not previously identified the achievements of sp so far include the most definite detection of crystalline iron bearing plagioclase with its characteristic 1 3 m absorption band on the moon a new interpretation of the lithology of tsiolkovsky crater central peaks previously classified as olivine rich as mixtures of plagioclase and pyroxene and the lower limit of mg number of low ca pyroxene found at antoniadi crater central peak and peak ring which were estimated through direct comparison with laboratory spectra of natural and synthetic pyroxene samples

a model for the thermal and chemical evolution of the moon s interior implications for the onset of mare volcanism crystallization of the lunar magma ocean creates a chemically stratified moon consisting of an anorthositic crust and magma ocean cumulates overlying the primitive lunar interior within the magma ocean cumulates the last liquids to crystallize form dense ilmenite rich cumulates that contain high concentrations of incompatible radioactive elements the underlying olivine orthopyroxene cumulates are also stratified with later crystallized denser more fe rich compositions at the top this paper explores the chemical and thermal consequences of an internal evolution model accounting for the possible role of these sources of chemical buoyancy rayleigh taylor instability causes the dense ilmenite rich cumulate layer and underlying fe rich cumulates to sink toward the center of the moon forming a dense lunar core after this overturn radioactive heating within the ilmenite rich cumulate core heats the overlying mantle causing it to melt in this model the source region for high tio2 mare basalts is a convectively mixed layer above the core mantle boundary which would contain small and variable amounts of admixed ilmenite and kreep this deep high pressure melting as required for the generation of mare basalts occurs after a reasonable time interval to explain the onset of mare basalt volcanism if the content of radioactive elements in the core and the chemical density gradients above the core are sufficiently high but within a range of values that might have been present in the moon regardless of details implied by particular model parameters gravitational overturn driven by the high density of magma ocean fe rich cumulates should concentrate high tio2 mare basalt sources and probably a significant fraction of radioactive heating toward the center of the moon this will have important implications for both the thermal evolution of the moon and for mare basalt genesis

major lunar crustal terranes surface expressions and crust mantle origins in light of global remotely sensed data the igneous crust of the moon can no longer be viewed as a simple globally stratified cumulus structure composed of a flotation upper crust of anorthosite underlain by progressively more mafic rocks and a residual melt kreep sandwich horizon near the base of the lower crust instead global geochemical information derived from clementine multispectral data and lunar prospector gamma ray data reveals at least three distinct provinces whose geochemistry and petrologic history make them geologically unique 1 the procellarum kreep terrane pkt 2 the feldspathic high lands terrane fht and 3 the south pole aitken terrane spat the pkt is a mafic province coincident with the largely resurfaced area in the procellarum imbrium region whose petrogenesis relates to the early differentiation of the moon here some 40 of the th in the moon s crust is concentrated into a region that constitutes only about 10 of the crustal volume this concentration of th average 5 ppm and by implication the other heat producing elements u and k led to a fundamentally different thermal and igneous evolution within this region compared to other parts of the lunar crust lower crustal materials within the pkt likely interacted with underlying mantle materials to produce hybrid magmatism leading to the magnesian suite of lunar rocks and possibly kreep basalt although rare in the apollo sample collection widespread mare volcanic rocks having substantial th enrichment are indicated by the remote data and may reflect further interaction between enriched crustal residues and mantle sources the fht is characterized by a central anorthositic region that constitutes the remnant of an anorthositic craton resulting from early lunar differentiation basin impacts into this region do not excavate significantly more mafic material suggesting a thickness of tens of kilometers of anorthositic crust the feldspathic lunar meteorites may represent samples from the anorthositic central region of the fht ejecta from deep penetrating basin impacts outside of the central anorthositic region however indicate an increasingly mafic composition with depth the spat a mafic anomaly of great magnitude may include material of the upper mantle as well as lower crust thus it is designated a separate terrane whether the spa basin impact simply uncovered lower crust such as we infer for the fht remains to be determined

distribution and modes of occurrence of lunar anorthosite 1 we have utilized telescopic near infrared spectra and multispectral images of the moon provided by the galileo and clementine missions to determine the distribution and modes of occurrence of pure anorthosite anorthosites have now been identified in all portions of the nearside including the site of the putative procellarum basin anorthosite is associated with the rings of orientale grimaldi humorum nectaris nubium mutus vlaq and balmer basins major portions of the inner rings of grimaldi humorum crisium orientale and nectaris are composed of pure anorthosite the large spatial extent of these anorthosites appears to rule out an origin in the upper portions of discrete differentiated mg suite plutons in every instance the anorthosites were exposed from beneath a shallower near surface layer of more pyroxene rich material more mafic material also occurs beneath the pure anorthosite unit large expanses of the northern farside exhibit very low feo values this region contains abundant anorthosite and stands in stark contrast to the mafic composition exhibited by the interior of the south pole aitken basin spa the distribution of compositional units on large portions of the lunar farside as well as the southern portion of the lunar nearside appears to be largely attributable to the spa impact event the distribution and modes of occurrence of anorthosites clearly indicate that a thick global layer of anorthosite is present at various depths beneath most portions of the lunar surface this anorthosite layer dominated the upper portion of the primordial crust and was produced by plagioclase flotation in the global magma ocean

ultramafic impact melt sheet beneath the south pole aitken basin on the moon 1 the spectral profiler onboard the japanese lunar explorer kaguya conducted the first hyperspectral survey around the south pole aitken basin spa on the moon that is one of the largest impact structures in the solar system the radiative transfer modeling revealed that fresh crater central peaks inside spa are commonly composed of an ultramafic assemblage dominated by magnesium rich orthopyroxene suggesting a homogeneous layer buried under spa the extensive ultramafic layer could be a relic of a gigantic impact melt pool produced by the spa forming impact the preponderance of orthopyroxene could have resulted from significant fractional crystallization of the lunar magma ocean prior to the onset of plagioclase floatation

the sudbury structure controversial or misunderstood the origins of the sudbury structure and associated igneous complex have been controversial most models call for a major impact event followed by impact induced igneous activity although totally igneous models are still being proposed much of the controversy is due in our opinion to a misunderstanding of the size of the original sudbury structure by analogy with other terrestrial impact structures the spatial distribution of shock features and huronian cover rocks at the sudbury structure suggest that the transient cavity was 100 km in diameter which places the original final structural rim diameter in the range of 150 200 km theoretical calculations and empirical relationships indicate that the formation of an impact structure of this size will result in 104 km3 of impact melt more than sufficient to produce a melt body the size of the igneous complex present volume 4 8 103 km3 for the igneous complex to be an impact melt sheet it must have a composition similar to that of the target rocks evidence for this has been presented previously for sr and nd isotopic data which suggest a crustal origin here we also present new evidence from least squares mixing models that the average composition of the igneous complex corresponds to a mix of archean granite greenstone terrain with possibly a small component of huronian cover rocks this is a geologically reasonable mix based on the interpreted target rock geology and the geometry of melt formation in an impact event of this size the igneous complex is differentiated which is not a characteristic of previously studied terrestrial impact melt sheets this can be ascribed however to its great thickness and slower cooling that large impact melt sheets can differentiate has important implications for how the lunar samples and the early geologic history of the lunar highlands are interpreted if this working hypothesis is accepted namely that both the sudbury structure and the igneous complex are impact in origin then previous hybrid impact igneous hypotheses can be discarded and the sudbury structure can be studied specifically for the constraints it provides to large scale cratering and the formation of basin sized multiring impact structures

a compositional study of the aristarchus region of the moon using near infrared reflectance spectroscopy newly obtained near infrared reflectance spectra for features on or near the aristarchus plateau demonstrate the diversity of compositions in the region highland units are of three probable compositions a feldspar and clinopyroxene assemblage a probable clinopyroxene olivine and possibly feldspar assemblage and an assemblage composed of olivine or olivine and feldspar the feldspar clinopyroxene assemblage is tentatively correlated with the major th anomaly centered on aristarchus crater the regional pyroclastic deposits on the plateau are composed of greater than 90 fe2 bearing glass the aristarchus cratering event fully penetrated any mare or pyroclastics in the target evidence for mare related material is found in the ejecta on the mare side of the mare plateau contact

compositional variations of the lunar crust results from radiative transfer modeling of central peak spectra 1 we present model mineralogy of impact crater central peaks combined with crustal thickness and crater central peak depth of origin models to report multiple perspectives of lunar crustal composition with depth here we report the analyses of 55 impact crater central peaks and how their compositions directly relate to the lunar highlands sample suite a radiative transfer model is used to analyze clementine visible plus near infrared spectra to place compositional constraints on these central peak materials central peaks analyzed are dominantly magnesian and plagioclase poor strong compositional similarities to lunar mg suite materials are evident relative to crustal thickness estimates central peak mineralogy becomes more plagioclase rich as the crust thickens relative to the crust mantle boundary the origin of peaks with dominantly mafic mineralogy are confined to the lower crust and primarily within the south pole aitken and procellarum kreep terranes pkt additionally central peaks with anorthositic mineralogy 60 vol plagioclase are transported to the surface from all depths in the crustal column and confined to the feldspathic highlands terrane fht the discovery of mafic and magnesian materials consistent with mg suite rocks of the sample collection in all lunar terranes suggests that the process and sources that give rise to these types of rocks is not unique to the pkt and not necessarily dependent on incompatible elements for formation the identification of ferroan and magnesian anorthositic material near the crust mantle boundary of the fht is also inconsistent with an increasing mafic feldspar ratio and mg with depth in the crust

crustal thickness of the moon implications for farside basin structures 1 based on the latest selene lunar gravity and topography model obtained by kaguya mission we compute the lunar crustal thickness map to investigate differences between farside basin structures the thickest crust is located in the southern rim of the dirichlet jackson basin and the thinnest crust at the moscoviense basin the thickest crust corresponds to the highest topography and is consistent with airy isostasy the thinnest crust is due to an abnormally large mantle plug the crustal thicknesses at apollo 12 14 sites of our crustal thickness model are 45 1 and 49 9 km the crustal thickness map indicates that the differences between recently proposed type i and type ii basins are probably controlled by the ratio between pre impact crustal thickness and impact scale

a new view of lunar ferroan anorthosites postmagma ocean petrogenesis 1 new melting experiments in the range of 0 1 mpa to 4 7 gpa provide the basis for calculations of polybaric crystallization which show that both a 300 km deep magma ocean mo enriched in refractory elements and a 600 km deep magma ocean with refractory element concentrations similar to the earth s upper mantle produce sufficient amounts of differentiated residual liquid capable of crystallizing the troctolitic noritic mineral assemblages that are prevalent in lunar ferroan anorthosites lfa however the both oceans become saturated with augite after 20 30 crystallization of the plagioclase saturated residuum and thereafter are no longer capable of producing noritic assemblages a second set of melting experiments reveals the existence of a previously unrecognized equilibrium augite liquid pigeonite plagioclase and a thermal minimum on the pigeonite plagioclase liquidus surface at 0 6 gpa these equilibria will produce melts of mafic cumulates with lower wo content than those from which the cumulates originally formed in a postmagma ocean environment of overturning mafic cumulates melt thus formed and entrained in a buoyant segregation of plagioclase would then form diapiric masses that would crystallize troctolitic noritic assemblages after intruding upward diapiric intrusions could also provide the local deformational environment needed to produce the apparently high 95 plagioclase modes of the lfa an unstable density profile in the cumulate pile following crystallization of most of the mo should provide the impetus for overturn and the heat for partially remelting mafic cumulates

origin of the lunar highlands mg suite an integrated petrology geochemistry chronology and remote sensing perspective the mg suite represents an enigmatic episode of lunar highlands magmatism that presumably represents the first stage of crustal building following primordial differentiation this review examines the mineralogy geochemistry petrology chronology and the planetary scale distribution of this suite of highlands plutonic rocks presents models for their origin examines petrogenetic relationships to other highlands rocks and explores the link between this style of magmatism and early stages of lunar differentiation of the models considered for the origin of the parent magmas for the mg suite the data best fit a process in which hot solidus temperature at 2 gpa 1600 to 1800 c and less dense 3100 kg m3 early lunar magma ocean cumulates rise to the base of the crust during cumulate pile overturn some decompressional melting would occur but placing a hot cumulate horizon adjacent to the plagioclase rich primordial crust and kreep rich lithologies at temperatures of 1300 c would result in the hybridization of these divergent primordial lithologies producing mg suite parent magmas as urkreep primeval kreep is not the petrologic driver of this style of magmatism outside of the procellarum kreep terrane pkt mg suite magmas are not required to have a kreep signature evaluation of the chronology of this episode of highlands evolution indicates that mg suite magmatism was initiated soon after primordial differentiation 10 m y alternatively the thermal event associated with the mantle overturn may have disrupted the chronometers utilized to date the primordial crust petrogenetic relationships between the mg suite and other highlands suites e g alkali suite and magnesian anorthositic granulites are consistent with both fractional crystallization processes and melting of distinctly different hybrid sources

global occurrence trend of high ca pyroxene on lunar highlands and its implications we present details of the global distribution of high ca pyroxene hcp rich sites in the lunar highlands based on the global data set of hyperspectral reflectance obtained by the selene spectral profiler most hcp rich sites in the lunar highlands are found at fresh impact craters in each crater most of the detection points are distributed on the ejecta rim and floor of the impact craters rather than the central peaks while the central peaks are dominated by purest anorthosite pan this indicates that hcp rich materials originate from relatively shallower regions of the lunar crust than pan in addition while all ray craters with sizes larger than 40 km possess hcp rich materials small fresh craters with sizes less than 6 10 km do not indicating that the uppermost mixing layers in the lunar crust are not dominated by hcp based on these results we propose that in the upper lunar crust a hcp rich zone overlying the pan layer exists below the uppermost mixing layer this hcp rich zone may originate from interstitial melt during the formation of the flotation anorthositic cumulate while an impact ejecta origin impact melt origin and or magmatic intrusion into the upper lunar crust may also account for the occurrence of hcp rich sites in the highlands

space weathering effects in diviner lunar radiometer multispectral infrared measurements of the lunar christiansen feature characteristics and mitigation multispectral infrared measurements by the diviner lunar radiometer experiment on the lunar renaissance orbiter enable the characterization of the position of the christiansen feature a thermal infrared spectral feature that laboratory work has shown is proportional to the bulk silica content of lunar surface materials diviner measurements show that the position of this feature is also influenced by the changes in optical and physical properties of the lunar surface with exposure to space the process known as space weathering large rayed craters and lunar swirls show corresponding christiansen feature anomalies the space weathering effect is likely due to differences in thermal gradients in the optical surface imposed by the space weathering control of albedo however inspected at high resolution locations with extreme compositions and christiansen feature wavelength positions silica rich and olivine rich areas do not have extreme albedos and fall off the albedo christiansen feature wavelength position trend occupied by most of the moon these areas demonstrate that the christiansen feature wavelength position contains compositional information and is not solely dictated by albedo an optical maturity parameter derived from near ir measurements is used to partly correct diviner data for space weathering influences

planetary science mantle of the moon exposed the composition of the rocks brought back from the moon by the apollo astronauts still poses a conundrum spectroscopic measurements of the lunar surface may offer a resolution while providing a glimpse at the evolution of the lunar mantle

lunar magma ocean crystallization revisited bulk composition early cumulate mineralogy and the source regions of the highlands mg suite abstract crystallization of the lunar magma ocean lmo has been numerically modeled and its products inferred from sample observations but it has never been fully tested experimentally this study is a reexamination of the lmo hypothesis by means of the first experimental simulation of lunar differentiation two end member bulk moon compositions are considered one enriched in refractory lithophile elements relative to earth and one with no such enrichment a two stage model of magma ocean crystallization based on geophysical constraints is simulated and features early crystal suspension and equilibrium crystallization followed by fractional crystallization of the residual magma ocean an initially entirely molten moon is assumed part 1 of this study presented here focuses on stage 1 of this model and considers the early cumulates formed by equilibrium crystallization differences in mantle mineralogy resulting from different bulk moon compositions and implications for the source regions of the highlands mg suite refractory element enriched bulk moon compositions produce a deep mantle that contains garnet and trace cr spinel in addition to low ca pyroxene and olivine in contrast compositions without refractory element enrichment produce a deep dunitic mantle with low ca pyroxene but without an aluminous phase the differences in bulk composition are magnified in the residual melt the residual lmo from the refractory element enriched composition will likely produce plagioclase and ilmenite earlier and in greater quantities both compositions produce mg rich early cumulate piles that extend from the core mantle boundary to 355 km depth if 50 equilibrium crystallization and whole moon melting are assumed these early lmo cumulates provide good fits for the source regions for a component of the high mg ni and co poor parental magmas of the mg suite cumulates if certain conditions are called upon the olivine in early lmo cumulates produced by either bulk moon composition is far too rich in cr to be reasonable for the source regions of the mg suite meaning either core formation in the presence of s and or c must be invoked to deplete the lmo and the crystallizing olivine in cr or that current estimates of the bulk lunar cr content are too high we infer that melts meeting the criteria of the mg suite parents could be produced from early lmo cumulates by solid state kreep and plagioclase hybridization near the base of the crust and subsequent partial melting additionally we propose a revised model for mg suite petrogenesis

possible mantle origin of olivine around lunar impact basins detected by selene the composition structure and evolution of the moon s mantle is poorly constrained a global survey of the moon s surface using the spectral profiler onboard the lunar explorer selene kaguya identifies a number of exposures of olivine in concentric regions around lunar craters with a possible mantle origin

detection of hydroxyl bearing exposures of possible magmatic origin on the central peak of crater theophilus using chandrayaan 1 moon mineralogy mapper m3 data abstract high resolution spectral and spatial data analyses of crater theophilus revealed the presence of hydroxyl bearing exposures of possible magmatic origin on its central peak in association with olivine spinel and crystalline plagioclase bearing lithologies hydroxyl bearing lithologies at theophilus central peak are characterized primarily by a prominent absorption feature near 2800 nm the strength of which varies from 2 to 6 in some localized zones within the central peak the strong and sharp 2800 nm hydroxyl feature having localized occurrences on the central peak of crater theophilus is inconsistent with a surficial origin we suggest that the observed hydration at theophilus central peak could possibly be associated with a sub crustal magmatic source that was subsequently tapped and exposed by theophilus impact event

space weathering from mercury to the asteroid belt the variety of evidence bearing on the nature of space weathering is reviewed the effects of space weathering include spectral darkening reddening and subdued absorption bands and the distinctive magnetic electron spin resonance caused by single domain metallic iron particles ever since the apollo missions two paradigms have dominated the thinking of the planetary science community concerning space weathering 1 the optical effects are caused by impact vitrified glass in agglutinates and 2 the submicroscopic metallic iron results from the reduction of ferrous iron by the impact melting of minerals whose surfaces have been saturated with hydrogen from the solar wind however studies carried out since the apollo program showed that both of these paradigms are invalid a hypothesis first suggested by the author and his colleagues 26 years ago but not generally accepted at that time now appears to be essentially correct both the optical and magnetic effects are caused by metallic iron particles smaller than the wavelength in ubiquitous vapor deposited coatings on soil particle surfaces and inside agglutinates the vapor is generated by both solar wind sputtering and micrometeorite impact vaporization and injected preferentially downward into the porous regolith the iron is reduced by a physical process the selective loss of oxygen that occurs during deposition of the vapor and does not require heating melting or a reducing environment a mathematical theory that describes the optical effects of the submicroscopic iron quantitatively is derived and applied to the regoliths of the moon mercury and an s asteroid

withdrawn lithological and mineralogical investigation of the lunar surface with hyperspectral imaging evidence and implications for the evolution of the moon s primitive crust the publisher regrets that this article has been withdrawn as a similar article was simultaneously submitted to another journal http dx doi org 10 1016 j gsf 2016 03 005 therefore qualifying as a redundant publication the full elsevier policy on article withdrawal and redundant publication and can be found at https www elsevier com authors journal authors policies and ethics

origin of olivine at copernicus the central peaks of copernicus are among the few lunar areas where near infrared telescopic reflectance spectra indicate extensive exposures of olivine other parts of copernicus crater and ejecta which were derived from highland units in the upper parts of the target site contain only low ca pyroxene as a mafic mineral the exposure of compositionally distinct layers including the presence of extensive olivine may result from penetration to an anomalously deep layer of the crust or to the lunar mantle we suggest that the procellarum basin and the younger superposed insularum basin have provided access to these normally deep seated crustal or mantle materials by thinning the upper crustal material early in lunar history the occurrences of olivine in portions of the compositionally heterogeneous aristarchus region in a related geologic setting may be due to the same sequence of early events

mineralogy of the lunar crust results from clementine received 1997 december 5 accepted in revised form 1998 september 15 abstract the central peaks of 109 impact craters across the moon are examined with clementine ultraviolet visible uvvis camera multispectral data the craters range in diameter from 40 to 180 km and are believed to have exhumed material from 5 30 km beneath the surface to form the peaks including both upper and lower crustal rocks depending on whether craters have impacted into highlands or basins representative five color spectra from spectrally and spatially distinct areas within the peaks are classified using spectral parameters including key ratio which is related to mafic mineral abundance and spectral curvature linked to absorption band shape which distinguishes between low and high ca pyroxene and olivine the spectral parameters are correlated to mineralogical abundances related in turn to highland plutonic rock compositions the derived rock compositions for the various central peaks are presented in a global map from these results it is evident that the lunar crust is compositionally diverse both globally and at local 100 m scales found within individual sets of central peaks although the central peaks compositions imply a crust that is generally consistent with previous models of crustal structure they also indicate a more anorthositic crust than generally assumed with a bulk plagioclase content of 8 1 evolving from pure anorthosite near the surface towards more mafic low ca pyroxene rich compositions with depth comparable to anorthositic norite evidence for mafic plutons occurs in both highlands and basins and represent all mafic highland rock types however the lower crust is more compositionally diverse than the highlands with both a greater range of rock types and more diversity within individual sets of central peaks

power law rheology of ice and the relaxation style and retention of craters on ganymede numerical models of viscous relaxation of craters in ice using rheological laws determined from laboratory data previously indicated excessively short relaxation times te the time required for crater depth to become 1 e of its initial value for craters on the icy satellites a typical value of te was 104 years for a 100 km diameter crater these time scales are totally incompatible with the large regions of heavily cratered terrain on the icy satellites we discuss the application of a numerical unite element model incorporating the most recent rheological data for ice at temperatures and pressures appropriate to the near surface regions of ganymede the model permits a full representation of a temperature and stress dependent power law viscosity for ice for temperature gradients in reasonable agreement with those obtained from thermal and structural models of ganymede we obtain relaxation times te 10 years for craters with diameters less than 100 km for all craters with diameters greater than 10 km the strong dependence of viscosity on stress was found to significantly shorten the relaxation time an attempt was also made to determine whether newtonian or non newtonian rheological laws dominated relaxation for craters of various sizes newtonian rheologies appear to dominate crater relaxation only for situations where the effective temperature is several tens of degrees warmer than the surface is observed to be perhaps because of the effect of an insulating regolith and where temperature gradients are small in this case viscous relaxation of craters with diameters smaller than 25 km is expected to be dominated by newtonian flow laws provided that the currently accepted parameters gross extrapolations from near melting temperature measurements are valid for the low temperatures of the icy satellites on the other hand larger diameter craters undergo at least initially viscous relaxation determined by a strongly non newtonian rheological law and have geologically short relaxation times te 107 years for a 300 km crater although these times may be extended by silicate suspensions and by dispersion hardening this presumably accounts for the absence of such craters in unmodified form on ganymede finally the large stress exponent n 4 7 of the current rheological data for ice indicates a strong role for non newtonian flow in determining the topography of viscously relaxing craterforms of this size in principle a threshold crater diameter and hence stress for the onset of non newtonian viscous behavior could be obtained from galileo images allowing estimates to be made of near surface temperatures and thermal gradients in ganymede s past in practice however any morphological variability is almost certainly too subtle to be detected from imagery the calculated relaxation times from this work are still much shorter than those indicated by the topographic relief of ganymede s surface this remains an unresolved problem possible ways in which the observations can be resolved with current laboratory data on ice deformation are discussed

copernicus a regional probe of the lunar interior earth based telescopic spectral imaging techniques were used to document the spatial distribution of crater materials within the large lunar crater copernicus at the subkilometer scale on the basis of spectral ultraviolet visible near infrared characteristics the proposed spectral mixing analysis leads to a first order mapping of the impact melt material within the crater olivine was detected not only within the three central peaks but also along a significant portion of the crater rim consideration of an olivine bearing end member in the mixing model emphasizes the overall morphological pattern of the rim and wall terraces in the associated fraction image the identification of widely exposed olivine units supports the idea that the lower crust and possibly the lunar mantle itself are regionally at shallow depth

early crustal building processes on the moon models for the petrogenesis of the magnesian suite abstract the plutonic rocks of the magnesian suite mg suite represent the period of lunar basaltic magmatism and crustal growth 4 46 to 4 1 ga that immediately followed the initial differentiation of the moon by magma ocean lmo formation and crystallization the volume and distribution of the mg suite and its petrogenetic relationship to latter stages of lunar magmatism mare basalts remains obscure these plutonic rocks exhibit a range of compositions and include ultramafics troctolites spinel troctolites norites and gabbronorites a distinguishing characteristic of this suite is that they contain some of the most magnesium rich phases fo95 90 that had crystallized from lunar magmas yet they also are significantly enriched in an incompatible element component referred to as kreep a late stage product of lmo crystallization containing abundant potassium k rare earth elements ree phosphorous p uranium and thorium ion microprobe analyses of individual mineral phases olivine pyroxene and plagioclase from the mg suite have shown some very unexpected characteristics that have profound implications on the origin of these basaltic magmas although the mg suite lithologies are typified by silicates with relatively high mg early liquidus phases such as olivine are fairly low in ni co and cr relative to more iron rich olivines in the younger mare basalts the high y and ti y in early phases such as olivine and orthopyroxene indicate that the parental basaltic melts were high in incompatible elements and contained an ilmenite fractionation signature however the y in olivine from many of the troctolites and ultramafic lithologies are only slightly greater than that of the olivine in the mare basalts whereas olivine in the norites gabbronorites and apollo 14 troctolites are exceedingly high the kreep component may have been added to the mg suite parent magmas by assimilation or mixing into the mantle source the volume of kreep required to be added to the parental magmas of the mg suite tends to favor the latter mechanism for kreep incorporation the extremely high abundances of kreep in the norites and gabbronorites are a product of substantial crystallization 40 to 70 of kreep enriched mg suite parental magmas basaltic magmatism associated with kreep extended for over 1 5 billion years and appears to have changed over time the early stages of this style of lunar magmatism mg suite appear to represent melting of early lmo cumulates with low abundances of ni co cr and v later stages of kreep rich basaltic magmatism seemed to clearly involve melting of a variety of lmo cumulate assemblages with higher incompatible element enrichment it appears that the heat derived from the kreep component was instrumental in at least initiating melting of the lunar mantle over this period of time

farside gravity field of the moon from four way doppler measurements of selene kaguya the farside gravity field of the moon is improved from the tracking data of the selenological and engineering explorer selene via a relay subsatellite the new gravity field model reveals that the farside has negative anomaly rings unlike positive anomalies on the nearside several basins have large central gravity highs likely due to super isostatic dynamic uplift of the mantle other basins with highs are associated with mare fill implying basalt eruption facilitated by developed faults basin topography and mantle uplift on the farside are supported by a rigid lithosphere whereas basins on the nearside deformed substantially with eruption variable styles of compensation on the near and farsides suggest that reheating and weakening of the lithosphere on the nearside was more extensive than previously considered

mineralogical diversity and geology of humboldt crater derived using moon mineralogy mapper data moon mineralogy mapper m3 spectroscopic data and high resolution imagery data sets were used to study the mineralogy and geology of the 207 km diameter humboldt crater analyses of m3 data using a custom made method for m3 spectra continuum removal and spectral parameters calculation reveal multiple pure crystalline plagioclase detections within the humboldt crater central peak complex hinting at its crustal origin however olivine spinel and glass are observed in the crater walls and rims suggesting these minerals derive from shallower levels than the plagioclase of the central peak complex high calcium pyroxenes are detected in association with volcanic deposits emplaced on the crater s floor geologic mapping was performed and the age of humboldt crater s units was estimated from crater counts results suggest that volcanic activity within this floor fractured crater spanned over a billion years the felsic mineralogy of the central peak complex region which presumably excavated deeper material and the shallow mafic minerals olivine and spinel detected in humboldt crater walls and rim are not in accordance with the general view of the structure of the lunar crust our observations can be explained by the presence of a mafic pluton emplaced in the anorthositic crust prior to the humboldt forming impact event alternatively the excavation of australe basin ejecta could explain the observed mineralogical detections this highlights the importance of detailed combined mineralogical and geological remote sensing studies to assess the heterogeneity of the lunar crust

numerical modeling of the formation and structure of the orientale impact basin 1 the orientale impact basin is the youngest and best preserved lunar multi ring basin and has thus been the focus of studies investigating basin forming processes and final structures a consensus about how multi ring basins form however remains elusive here we numerically model the orientale basin forming impact with the aim of resolving some of the uncertainties associated with this basin by using two thermal profiles estimating lunar conditions at the time of orientale s formation and constraining the numerical models with crustal structures inferred from gravity data we provide estimates for orientale s impact energy 2 9 1025 j impactor size 50 80 km diameter transient crater size 320 480 km excavation depth 40 55 km and impact melt volume 106 km3 we also analyze the distribution and deformation of target material and compare our model results and orientale observations with the chicxulub crater to investigate similarities between these two impact structures

rock types of south pole aitken basin and extent of basaltic volcanism the enormous pre nectarian south pole aitken spa basin represents a geophysically and compositionally unique region on the moon we present and analyze the mineralogical diversity across this basin and discuss the implications for basin evolution rock types are derived from clementine multispectral data based on diagnostic characteristics of ferrous absorptions in fresh materials individual areas are characterized as noritic dominated by low ca pyroxene gabbroic basaltic dominated by high ca pyroxene feldspathic 3 6 feo and olivine gabbro dominated by high ca pyroxene and olivine the anorthositic crust has effectively been removed from the interior of the basin the style of volcanism within the basin extends over several 100 myr and includes mare basalt and pyroclastic deposits several areas of ancient pre orientale volcanism or cryptomaria have also been identified the nonmare mafic lithology that occurs across the basin is shown to be noritic in composition and is pervasive laterally and vertically we interpret this to represent impact melt breccia deposits derived from the lower crust a few localized areas are identified within the basin that contain more diverse lithologies gabbro olivine gabbro some of which may represent material from the deepest part of the lower crust and perhaps uppermost mantle involved in the spa event

mg spinel lithology a new rock type on the lunar farside 1 high resolution compositional data from moon mineralogy mapper m3 for the moscoviense region on the lunar farside reveal three unusual but distinctive rock types along the inner basin ring these are designated oos since they are dominated by high concentrations of orthopyroxene olivine and mg rich spinel respectively the oos occur as small areas each a few kilometers in size that are widely separated within the highly feldspathic setting of the basin rim although the abundance of plagioclase is not well constrained within the oos the mafic mineral content is exceptionally high and two of the rock types could approach pyroxenite and harzburgite in composition the third is a new rock type identified on the moon that is dominated by mg rich spinel with no other mafic minerals detectable 5 pyroxene olivine all oos surfaces are old and undisturbed since basin formation they are effectively invisible in image data and are only recognized by their distinctive composition identified spectroscopically the origin of these unusual lithologies appears to be linked to one or more magmatic intrusions into the lower crust perhaps near the crust mantle interface processes such as fractional crystallization and gravity settling within such intrusions may provide a mechanism for concentrating the mafic components within zones several kilometers in dimension the oos are embedded within highly anorthositic material from the lunar crust they may thus be near contemporaneous with crustal products from the cooling magma ocean

mineral maps of the moon 1 global maps of the distribution of plagioclase orthopyroxene clinopyroxene and olivine on the moon were derived from radiative transfer analysis of 400 000 clementine uvvis spectra plagioclase inversely correlates with iron while clinopyroxene positively correlates with iron showing these are the major carriers of aluminum and iron respectively the distribution of olivine in the maria agrees with previous studies in the highlands the abundance of olivine is low but ubiquitous at a few percent except within the south pole aitken basin where it is only present in very small exposures in the very anorthositic farside highlands olivine is often the sole mafic mineral the abundance of orthopyroxene is generally low excepting elevated abundances in the nearside highlands and in areas near and within south pole aitken basin mare units with elevated abundances of orthopyroxene are found in some mare and cryptomare deposits distant from the sample return sites

excavation of the lunar mantle by basin forming impact events on the moon abstract global maps of crustal thickness on the moon derived from gravity measurements obtained by nasa s gravity recovery and interior laboratory grail mission have shown that the lunar crust is thinner than previously thought hyperspectral data obtained by the kaguya mission have also documented areas rich in olivine that have been interpreted as material excavated from the mantle by some of the largest lunar impact events numerical simulations were performed with the isale 2d hydrocode to investigate the conditions under which mantle material may have been excavated during large impact events and where such material should be found the results show that excavation of the mantle could have occurred during formation of the several largest impact basins on the nearside hemisphere as well as the moscoviense basin on the farside hemisphere even though large areas in the central portions of these basins were later covered by mare basaltic lava flows surficial lunar mantle deposits are predicted in areas external to these maria our results support the interpretation that the high olivine abundances detected by the kaguya spacecraft could indeed be derived from the lunar mantle

understanding the origin and evolution of water in the moon through lunar sample studies a paradigm shift has recently occurred in our knowledge and understanding of water in the lunar interior this has transpired principally through continued analysis of returned lunar samples using modern analytical instrumentation while these recent studies have undoubtedly measured indigenous water in lunar samples they have also highlighted our current limitations and some future challenges that need to be overcome in order to fully understand the origin distribution and evolution of water in the lunar interior another exciting recent development in the field of lunar science has been the unambiguous detection of water or water ice on the surface of the moon through instruments flown on a number of orbiting spacecraft missions considered together sample based studies and those from orbit strongly suggest that the moon is not an anhydrous planetary body as previously believed new observations and measurements support the possibility of a wet lunar interior and the presence of distinct reservoirs of water on the lunar surface furthermore an approach combining measurements of water abundance in lunar samples and its hydrogen isotopic composition has proved to be of vital importance to fingerprint and elucidate processes and source s involved in giving rise to the lunar water inventory a number of sources are likely to have contributed to the water inventory of the moon ranging from primordial water to meteorite derived water ice through to the water formed during the reaction of solar wind hydrogen with the lunar soil perhaps two of the most striking findings from these recent studies are the revelation that at least some portions of the lunar interior are as water rich as some mid ocean ridge basalt source regions on earth and that the water in the earth and the moon probably share a common origin

tsiolkovsky crater a window into crustal processes on the lunar farside mineralogy and distribution of rock types in the tsiolkovsky region of the lunar farside are evaluated in terms of crustal stratigraphy and evolution calibrated multispectral images from five orbits of clementine data provide compositional information at a scale that allows diverse geologic features to be analyzed and compared the entire region is seen to be highly anorthositic with outcrops of relatively pure anorthosite quite common the crater itself has excavated blocks of anorthosite and noritic anorthosite from the near surface highland crust often in a mixed jumble the central peaks of tsiolkovsky which have exhumed much deeper material however are composed of relatively pure anorthosite with olivine rich zones concentrated near the ridge crests boundaries between the anorthosite and olivine rich zones are sharp but spatial relations suggest the coherent olivine rich zone is relatively thin 1 km the composition of the mare material filling tsiolkovsky is shown to be low titanium basalt smaller exposures of mare basalt occur about one crater radius from the rim the crustal structure to 25 km in this region prior to the tsiolkovsky impact appears to be top to bottom a few kilometers of anorthositic breccias comprising the megaregolith a zone of crystalline anorthosite with pockets of noritic anorthosite a zone of anorthosite devoid of iron bearing minerals and a zone of relatively pure anorthosite containing olivine rich material possibly emplaced as intrusions

remote compositional analysis of lunar olivine rich lithologies with moon mineralogy mapper m3 spectra 1 a systematic approach for deconvolving remotely sensed lunar olivine rich visible to near infrared vnir reflectance spectra with the modified gaussian model mgm is evaluated with chandrayaan 1 moon mineralogy mapper m3 spectra whereas earlier studies of laboratory reflectance spectra focused only on complications due to chromite inclusions in lunar olivines we develop a systematic approach for addressing through continuum removal the prominent continuum slopes common to remotely sensed reflectance spectra of planetary surfaces we have validated our continuum removal on a suite of laboratory reflectance spectra suites of olivine dominated reflectance spectra from a small crater near mare moscoviense the copernicus central peak aristarchus and the crater marius in the marius hills were analyzed spectral diversity was detected in visual evaluation of the spectra and was quantified using the mgm the mgm derived band positions are used to estimate the olivine s composition in a relative sense spectra of olivines from moscoviense exhibit diversity in their absorption features and this diversity suggests some variation in olivine fe mg content olivines from copernicus are observed to be spectrally homogeneous and thus are predicted to be more compositionally homogeneous than those at moscoviense but are of broadly similar composition to the moscoviense olivines olivines from aristarchus and marius exhibit clear spectral differences from those at moscoviense and copernicus but also exhibit features that suggest contributions from other phases if the various precautions discussed here are weighed carefully the methods presented here can be used to make general predictions of absolute olivine composition fe mg content

new insights into lunar petrology distribution and composition of prominent low ca pyroxene exposures as observed by the moon mineralogy mapper m3 1 lunar geochemical groups such as mg suite ferroan anorthosite and alkali suite rocks are difficult to distinguish from orbit because they are defined by both modal mineralogy and elemental composition of their constituent minerals while modal mineralogy can be modeled only specific minerals or elements can be directly detected at near infrared nir wavelengths pyroxenes are among the most spectrally distinctive minerals and their absorption bands are sensitive to structure and composition pyroxenes thus provide important clues to distinguish these geochemical groups and to understand lunar crustal evolution using moon mineralogy mapper data we search for lithologies dominated by strong low calcium pyroxene lcp signatures we compare the nir absorptions of 20 lcps to a suite of synthetic pyroxenes to determine which lunar pyroxenes appear magnesian enough to be candidate mg suite norites we detail three prominent regions of lcp 1 in south pole aitken basin spa 2 south of mare frigoris and 3 north of mare frigoris the absorption band positions suggest that the lcps north of mare frigoris and those in spa are compositionally similar to one another and of mg50 75 implying that the mafic material excavated by the spa impact was relatively iron rich modified gaussian modeling results suggest that the apollo basin may have tapped different composition material than is exposed in much of spa the lcps located in the highlands south of mare frigoris exhibit absorption bands at short wavelengths consistent with mg 80 the coincidence of these mg rich lcps with the thorium measured by lunar prospector make them good candidates for kreep related mg suite pyroxenes

olivine rich exposures in the south pole aitken basin abstract the distribution and the geological context of the olivine rich exposures in the south pole aitken spa basin on the moon were investigated based on the spectral data obtained from the spectral profiler sp and multiband imager mi onboard the japanese lunar explorer kaguya selene the olivine rich exposures are found only in the peak rings or central peaks of the schrodinger basin and zeeman crater which are located in the outer region of the spa basin and not in the center region on a localized scale the olivine rich materials are exposed on landslide features on the crater walls or sloped wall of the central peaks or the peak rings another observational finding is the co existence of olivine rich and plagioclase rich materials on a kilometer scale spanning most of the olivine rich sites in the schrodinger basin pyroxene rich materials are found in fresh craters outside the peak rings or the central peaks with olivine rich materials based on these results the following scenario are proposed 1 the impact to form the spa basin melted a large amount of the lunar upper mantle and crust and distributed the melted materials to the outer region 2 local differentiation of melted materials hid the olivine rich materials in the center region of the spa basin 3 later impacts that formed the schrodinger and zeeman craters excavated and exposed the olivine rich materials to the surface again and 4 space weathering and regolith gardening obscured the olivine rich spectra at the exposure sites but recent small scale impacts or landslides on the sloped wall exposed fresh olivine rich materials allowing the identification of the olivine rich exposures by spectral remote sensing this suggests that several different scale events play an important role in forming the surface distributions of originally deep seated materials on the moon as well as on other planetary bodies

a chemical model for generating the sources of mare basalts combined equilibrium and fractional crystallization of the lunar magmasphere abstract it is generally considered that mare basalts were generated by the melting of a cumulate mantle formed in an early moon wide magma ocean or magmasphere however the nature and chemistry of this cumulate mantle and the logistics of its origin have remained elusive extensive studies of terrestrial layered mafic intrusions over the past sixty years have emphasized the imperfection of fractional crystallization and attendant crystal crystal and crystal liquid separation in a convecting magma chamber crystal liquid and crystal crystal separations were similarly inefficient during evolution of the lunar magma ocean lmo allowing for the trapping of interstitial liquid and entrainment of a small proportion of less dense plagioclase into the denser mafic cumulate mush indeed petrography of lunar highlands samples demonstrates this for anorthosites with 1 10 olivine the residual liquid after 80 90 crystallization was very evolved in fact kreepy and even in small proportions 1 5 would have a noticeable effect on the trace element chemistry of melts generated from these cumulates this trapped residual liquid would elevate total ree abundances in the cumulate pile while synchronously deepening the already negative eu anomaly essentially this trapped liquid will make the cumulate more fertile for melting to generate both kreep basalt and mare basalt magmas plagioclase entrained in the mafic cumulate pile adds an essential al component to the high ti basalt source and will moderate the requisite negative eu anomaly in the cumulate early in the evolution of the lunar mantle when the lmo still was largely liquid it is likely that vigorous convection was an important factor in crystallization such convection would allow crystals to remain suspended and in equilibrium with the lmo liquid for relatively long periods of time this extended period of equilibrium crystallization would then have been followed by fractional crystallization once plagioclase became a liquidus phase and began to float to form the lunar highlands crust previous authors have proposed a three component model for the evolution of high ti mare basalt source regions this model includes kreep early olivine rich high mg cumulates and late ilmeniterich low mg cumulates in various proportions however we propose a model for high ti basalt parent magmas which is in accord with studies of terrestrial layered intrusions this model for the high ti source includes trapped instantaneous residual liquid tirl 1 3 and entrainment of a small 2 5 proportion of plagioclase into the late stage cumulate pile in order to account for both the observed al compositions and trace element characteristics of high ti mare basalts melting of this relatively shallow ilmenite and clinopyroxene bearing late stage cumulate can generate high ti mare basalt magmas furthermore we are in agreement with other workers that only through a process of nonmodal melting will the high ti values for the parent magmas be realized large scale convective overturn of the cumulate pile and mixing of kreep with early and late stage cumulates is not required however localized overturn of the upper tenth of the cumulate pile is likely and in fact required to achieve an appropriate major element balance for the high ti mare basalt source region

double diffusive convection in a stochastic shear abstractan attempt is made to quantify the impact of stochastic wave induced shears on salt fingers associated with internal waves in the ocean the wave environment is represented by the superposition of fourier components conforming to the garrett munk gm spectrum with random initial phase distribution the resulting time series of vertical shear are incorporated into a finger resolving numerical model and the latter is used to evaluate the equilibrium diapycnal fluxes of heat and salt the proposed procedure makes it possible to simulate salt fingers in shears that are representative of typical oceanic conditions this study finds that the shear induced modification of salt fingers is largely caused by near inertial motions these relatively slow waves act to align salt fingers in the direction of shear thereby rendering the double diffusive dynamics effectively two dimensional internal waves reduce the equilibrium vertical fluxes of heat and salt by a factor of 2 relative to those in the unsheare

a large spectral survey of small lunar craters implications for the composition of the lunar mantle a global spectral survey of 4506 immature craters with diameters 1 km was carried out using near ir data from the kaguya spectral profiler to characterize the composition of the lunar megaregolith on the basis of band minima and radiative transfer mixing models small crater spectra fall into three groups 1 mare basalts with strong absorptions at relatively long wavelengths indicating high ratios of high to low ca pyroxene 2 norites containing about 50 plagioclase and with pyroxene assemblages dominated by low ca pyroxene that occur within the south pole aitken basin spa near apollo 14 and other locations near imbrium basin and three major cryptomaria deposits and 3 noritic anorthosites occurring within the feldspathic highlands terrane containing about 20 wt pyroxene with a pyroxene assemblage containing exclusively very low ca pyroxene very few pure anorthosites are present in this survey and there are no occurrences of pyroxene poor olivine rich assemblages models of the composition of basin ejecta incorporate large amounts of mantle material and the spectral results require that that the sampled mantle is orthopyroxenite basin depth diameter ratios used in the models required to match the measured composition are consistent with prior estimates for the largest basins the composition found in the spa and imbrium regions are consistent with mafic impact melt breccias or basaltic impact melts of basin origin for spa we model this composition and find it requires an extremely low impact angle while this is consistent with prior work on an oblique impact for the spa event a more robust solution invokes the production of norite in impact melt seas

exploring the moon s surface for remnants of the lunar mantle 1 dunite xenoliths in mare basalts a crustal or mantle origin remotely sensed observations from recent missions e g grail kaguya chandrayaan 1 have been interpreted as indicating that the deep crust and upper mantle are close to or at the lunar surface in many large impact basins e g crisium apollo moscoviense if this is correct the capability of either impact or volcanic processes to transport mantle lithologies to the lunar surface should be enhanced in these regions somewhat problematic to these observations and interpretations is that examples of mantle lithologies in the lunar sample collection apollo program luna program lunar meteorites are at best ambiguous dunite xenoliths in high ti mare basalt 74275 are one of these ambiguous examples in this high ti mare basalt olivine occurs in three generations olivine associated with dunite xenoliths olivine megacrysts and olivine microphenocrysts the dunite xenoliths are anhedral in shape and are generally greater than 800 m in diameter the interior of the xenoliths are fairly homogeneous with regard to many divalent cations for example the mg mg mg fe 100 ranges from 82 to 83 in their interiors and decreases from 82 to 68 over the 10 30 m wide outer rim titanium and phosphorus x ray maps of the xenolith illustrate that these slow diffusing elements preserve primary cumulate zoning textures these textures indicate that the xenoliths consist of many individual olivine grains approximately 150 200 m in diameter with low ti al and p cores these highly incompatible elements are enriched in the outer fe rich rims of the xenoliths and slightly enriched in the rims of the individual olivine grains highly compatible elements in olivine such as ni exhibit a decrease in the rim surrounding the xenolith an increase in the incompatible element depleted cores of the individual olivine grains and a slight decrease in the interior rims of the individual olivine grains inferred melt composition liquid lines of descent and zoning profiles enable the reconstruction of the petrogenesis of the dunite xenoliths preservation of primary magmatic zoning ti p al and lack of textures similar to high pressure mineral assemblages exhibited by the mg suite shearer et al 2015 indicate that these xenoliths do not represent deep crustal or shallow mantle lithologies further they are chemically and mineralogically distinct from mg suite dunites identified from the apollo 17 site more likely they represent olivine cumulates that crystallized from a low ti mare basalt at intermediate to shallow crustal levels the parent basalt to the dunite xenolith lithology was more primitive than low ti basalts thus far returned from the moon furthermore this parental magma and its more evolved daughter magmas are not represented in the basalt sample suite returned from the taurus littrow valley by the apollo 17 mission the dunite xenolith records several episodes of crystallization and re equilibration during the last episode of re equilibration the dunite cumulate was sampled by the 74275 high ti basalt and transported over a period of 30 70 days to the lunar surface

compositional diversity and geologic insights of the aristarchus crater from moon mineralogy mapper data 1 the moon mineralogy mapper m3 acquired high spatial and spectral resolution data of the aristarchus plateau with 140 m pixel in 85 spectral bands from 0 43 to 3 0 m the data were collected as radiance and converted to reflectance using the observational constraints and a solar spectrum scaled to the moon sun distance summary spectral parameters for the area of mafic silicate 1 and 2 m bands were calculated from the m3 data and used to map the distribution of key units that were then analyzed in detail with the spectral data this analysis focuses on five key compositional units in the region 1 the central peaks are shown to be strongly enriched in feldspar and are likely from the upper plagioclase rich crust of the moon 2 the impact melt is compositionally diverse with clear signatures of feldspathic crust olivine and glass 3 the crater walls and ejecta show a high degree of spatial heterogeneity and evidence for massive breccia blocks 4 olivine strongly concentrated on the rim wall and exterior of the southeastern quadrant of the crater is commonly associated the impact melt 5 there are at least two types of glass deposits observed pyroclastic glass and impact glass

copernicus crater central peak lunar mountain of unique composition olivine is identified as the major mafic mineral in a central peak of copernicus crater information on the mineral assemblages of such unsampled lunar surface material is provided by near infrared reflectance spectra 0 7 to 2 5 micrometers obtained with earth based telescopes the composition of the deep seated material comprising the copernicus central peak is unique among measured areas other lunar terra areas and the wall of copernicus exhibit spectral characteristics of mineral assemblages comparable to the feldspathic breccias returned by the apollo missions with low calcium orthopyroxene being the major mafic mineral

geological characterization of the chang e 4 landing area on the lunar farside abstract on january 3 2019 china s chang e 4 probe accomplishes the first ever soft landing on moon s farside in the von karman crater floor mare volcanism plain 177 59 e 45 46 s within the south pole aitken spa basin its surface in situ measurements would provide the first ground truth for lunar farside volcanism and spa materials we present a detailed geologic context topographical morphological quantitative geochemical and mineralogical characterization of a 20 20 km area centered at the chang e 4 landing site using the latest multi source high resolution orbital data sets the landing area is very flat at a baseline of 30 m with 90 of surface having slope