El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1914-07-11

monotonous floorIike surface, and ev-
! eryWhere the smaller socalled era
/ ters," which are sprinkled BY millions
Z over all parts of the moon
/ On a Journey like this 1t would be
] worth while TO have an automobile, at
Z all events for travel over the floors"
/ such as the Mare CrisIum- On the
north west margin OF this level stretch
Z is a magnificent ringshapSd enclosure
l with high cliff walls rising TO an ele-
walton Of nearly two miles above the
plain within. from the middle Of which
a small mountain uplifts itself We
have no similar formations on the earth,
and such natural amphltheaterss scat
tered as they are over most OF the sur
face Of the moon, are a puzzle TO sci
Z ence. One Of their oldest features is
the lofty peak which usually springs Up
in the center Of each enclosure.
The name ring plains Is given by
astronomers to those which have con-
tinuous circular ramparts-the latter
falling steeply TO the enclosure within,
which is greatly depressed below the
region outside In many instances the
ramparts are not continuous, but in
terrupted by gaps, crossed by valleys
and passes, and broken By "craters."
These are distinguished as walled
plains"
around the edge Of the moon latter
passing two or three great ring plains,
one Of which is 40 miles in dlameter)
is across a floor" which covers an area
edge is a magnificent walled plain,
nearly circular in form and III miles
in diameter. a great mountain chain
crosses it from north to south
Next beyond Is the ring plain called
Mercurius, already mentioned, and
further on IS the walled plain Of En-
dymion, enormous in size The distance
across IL is nearly as great as from
Philadelphia to New York, and the
mountains Of its border rise into peaks
two miles above its interior
One puzzle is why the floors Of the
ring plains should be so much deeper,
often bv thousands of feet, than the
territory Immediately surrounding
Them The scenery, except for the i'm
mense level areas known as seas" or
floors, IS sufficiently diversified,
@craterss being distributed everywhere.
Some OF these "craters" are several
miles in diameter. Many OF them appear
TO be lined with a white substance
which shines brilliantly in the sun
The next object Of interest is Grimal-
di, one Of the largest walled plains on
the moon. It is 14S miles long and 129
miles wide, or nearly twice the size Of
Wales. a striking fact about it is that
its floor, Of blush gray hue, is the
darkest spot on the lunar surface.
The amphitheaters Of great size,
however, are so numerous that II is |
possible to make mention Of only a very |
few Of them. Bailly is one of the !
largest Of the walled plains, the dis |
lance across II DeluB EE6aleE LHa4 from l
New York 10 Washington On the west /
side the rampant, rising TO an eleva- /
ton OF nearly three miles, is broken by |
several bright craters.
These bright craters, and others like /
them on the lunar surface las seen j
from the earth) occupy the centers OF /
circular areas which shine with a gilt /
tering ulster, forming halos Of light 4
around them The reason why is not |
positively known, but the suppOsition is 4
that some kind Of very white material /
has been elected from them.
Think Volcano still Active.
Many astronomers are inclined to j
believe that volcanic forces are still 4
themselves on the moon,
and Prof Pickering goes so far as TO 4
say that the great ring plain known as I
Plato is at present the scene of mightier
plutOnic activities than any area on l
the earth Its smooth and nearly level 4
floor, so miles in diameter, is studded
with volcanic cones which change in /
number and appearance from time to
time, showing that something is do
ing" there. In another region, a deep,
winding cleft. called Schroter's valley,
appears to emit dense clouds Of white (
vapor, which rise from its bottom and /
pour out over the rim.
The ring plain Of Cabeus IS remark
ably deep It has a central peak, two