3. CONTENTS
• INTRODUCTION
• ELEMENTAL COMPOSITION
• MINERALOGY
• ECONOMIC VALUE
• MOON OCEANUS PROCELLARUM
• LUNAR MARIA
• HIGHLANDS
• RILLS
• DOMES
• CRATER
• LAVA TUBE
• LUNAR MAGMA OCEAN
• LITHOLOGY
• FURTHER EXPECTED DISCOVERIES
• Facts of moon
4. INTRODUCTION
• The geology of the Moon (sometimes called selenology, although the latter
term can refer more generally to "lunar science") is quite different from that of
Earth. The Moon lacks a significant atmosphere, which eliminates erosion due
to weathering; it does not possess any form of plate tectonics, it has a lower
gravity, and because of its small size, it cools more rapidly. The complex
geomorphology of the lunar surface has been formed by a combination of
processes, especially impact cratering and volcanism. The Moon is a
differentiated body, possessing a crust, mantle and core.
• Geological studies of the Moon are based on a combination of Earth-based
telescope observations, measurements from orbiting spacecraft, lunar samples,
and geophysical data. A few locations were sampled directly during the Apollo
missions in the late 1960s and early 1970s, which returned approximately
380 kilograms (838 lb) of lunar rock and soil to Earth, as well as several
missions of the Soviet Lunar programme. The Moon is the only extraterrestrial
body for which we possess samples with a known geologic context. A handful
of lunar meteorites have been recognized on Earth, though their source craters
on the Moon are unknown. A substantial portion of the lunar surface has not
been explored, and a number of geological questions remain unanswered.
5. The moon is the Earth’s only natural
satellite.
• The moon is a
ball of rock that
is dry and dusty.
It has craters,
valleys,
mountains, and
large patches
called seas.
6. The Moon’s Surface
• No atmosphere
• No liquid water
• Extreme
temperatures
– Daytime = 130C
(265°F)
– Nighttime = -
190C (-310 F)
• 1/6 Earth’s
gravity
7. Elemental composition
• Elementsknown to be present on thelunar surface include, oxygen
(O), silicon (Si), iron (Fe), magnesium(Mg), calcium(Ca), aluminium
(Al), manganese(Mn) and titanium(Ti). Amongthesemore abundant
are oxygen, iron and silicon. The oxygen content is estimatedat 45%
(by weight). Carbon (C) and nitrogen(N) appear to be present only in
trace quantitiesfrom deposition by solar wind.
• Neutronspectrometry data from theLunar Prospector indicatethe
presence of hydrogen (H) concentrated at the poles.
• Relativeconcentrationof various elementson thelunar surface (in
weight%)
• RelativeConcentration(in weight%) of Various Elementson Lunar
Highlands, LunarLowlands, and Earth
11. VISIBLE FACES OF THE MOON
MINERALOGY
1.The first important event in the geologic
evolution of the Moon was the crystallization
of the near global magma ocean. It is not
known with certainty what its depth was,
but several studies imply a depth of about
500 km or greater.
2.The first minerals to form in this ocean
were the iron and magnesium silicates
olivine and pyroxene. Because these
minerals were denser than the molten
material around them, they sank. After
crystallization was about 75% complete,
less dense anorthositic plagioclase feldspar
crystallized and floated, forming an
anorthositic crust about 50 km in thickness.
3.The majority of the magma ocean
crystallized quickly (within about 100 million
years or less), though the final remaining
KREEP-rich magmas, which are highly
enriched in incompatible and heat-producing
elements, could have remained partially
molten for several hundred million (or
perhaps 1 billion) years. It appears that the
final KREEP-rich magmas of the magma
ocean eventually became concentrated
within the region of Oceanus Procellarum
and the Imbrium basin, a unique geologic
province that is now known as the
Procellarum KREEP Terrane.
13. MINERALS ABUNDANCE IN MARE BASALTS
30%
3%
60%
30%
5%
5%
55%
35%
8%
2%
PYROXENE
OLIVINE
ILMENITE
50%
17%
HIGH TITANIUM LOW TITANIUM VERY LOW TITANIUM
PLAGIOCLASE
14. MOON OCEANUS PROCELLARUM
1. ANCIENT RIFT VALLEY RECTANGULAR STRUTURE [VISIBLE TO
TOPOGRAPHY],OCTOBER 1 2014
2. ANCIENT RIFT VALLEY CONTENT
3. ANCIENT RIFT VALLEY CLOSE UP
15. Lunar Features - Highlands
• Mountains up to
7500 m (25,000 ft)
tall
• Rilles (trenchlike
valleys)
16. 1.The most distinctive aspect of the Moon is the
contrast between its bright and dark zones.
2.Lighter surfaces are the lunar highlands, which
receive the name of terrae and the darker plains are
called maria .
3.The highlands are anorthositic in composition,
whereas the maria are basaltic.
4.The maria often coincide with the "lowlands," but it
is not always covered with maria.
5.The highlands are older than the visible maria,hence
more heavily cratered.
18. Lunar Features - Maria
• Originally thought to
be “seas” by early
astronomers
• Darkest parts of lunar
landscape
• Filled by lava after
crash of huge
meteorites on lunar
surface 3-4 billion
years ago
• Mostly basalt rock
19. COMPOSITION OF THE
MARIA
• The main characteristics of the basaltic rocks with respect to the
rocks of the lunar highlands is that the basalts contain higher
abundances of olivine and pyroxene, and less plagioclase. They are
more rich in iron than terrestrial basalts, and also have lower
viscosities.
• Some of them have high abundances of a ferro-titanic oxide called
ilmenite. Because the first sampling of rocks contained a high
content of ilmenite and other related minerals, they received the
name of "high titanium" basalts.
• The Apollo 12 mission returned to Earth with basalts of lower
titanium concentrations, and these were dubbed "low titanium"
basalts.
• Subsequent missions, including the Soviet unmanned probes,
returned with basalts with even lower concentrations, now called
"very low titanium" basalts. The Clementine space probe returned
data showing that the mare basalts possess a continuum in titanium
concentrations, with the highest concentration rocks being the
least abundant.
20. NEAR SIDE OF THE MOON
• The Near side:
– Has more mare:
32% of its surface
is mare covered
compared with 2%
of the far side
(globally mare
cover 17%).
21. FAR SIDE OF THE MOON
• First seen by Luna
3 Russian space
probe in 1959
• Surface features
different from
near side
– More craters
– Very few maria
– Thicker crust
22. RILLeS
A long, narrow depression in that
resembles a channel, found on the
surface of moon.
These generally fall into three
categories, consisting of sinuous,
arcuate, or linear shapes.
By following these meandering
rilles back to their source, they
often lead to an old volcanic vent.
One of the most notable sinuous
rilles is the Vallis Schröteri
feature, located in the Aristarchus
plateau along the eastern edge of
Oceanus Procellarum.
An example of a sinuous rille
exists at the Apollo 15 landing site,
Rima Hadley, located on the rim of
the Imbrium Basin.
23. DOMES
i. A lunar dome is
a type of shield
volcano found on
the surface of
moon.
ii. Formed by high
viscous, silica
rich lava
erupting from
localised vents
followed by slow
cooling.
iii. Domes are wide,
rounded, circular
features with a
gentle slope
rising in
elevation a few
100mts.
iv. 8-12km in
diameter, but
can be upto
20km across.
24. Wrinkle ridges
Wrinkle ridge is a type of feature found on
lunar maria. These features represent
buckling of the surface and form long ridges
across parts of the maria. Some of these
ridges may outline buried craters or other
features beneath the maria. A prime
example of such an outlined feature is the
crater Letronne.
TEctonic features that form under
extension stresses. Structurally, they
are composed of two normal faults,
with a down-dropped block between
them. Most grabens are found within
the lunar maria near the edges of
large impact basins.
Grabens
26. Lunar Features - Craters
• Up to 2500 km (1,553 miles) across
• Most formed by meteorite impact on the
Moon
• Some formed by volcanic action inside the
Moon
28. A RARE CHARACTERISTICS OF LAVA TUBE ARE LAVA
PILLARS .THIS IS THE MAJJANGUL LAVA PILLAR LOCATED
IN THE MAJANGGUL LAVA TUBES ON THE ISLAND OF
JEJUDO IN KOREA
29. LUNAR LAVA TUBES
• Sub-surface tunnels on the moon
formed during basaltic lava flows.
• Formed on the surface that have a
slope that ranges in angle from 0.4-6.5º.
• Lava tubes may be as wide as 500
metres before they become unstable
against gravitational collapse.
• Marius hills region area contains lava
tubes & rilles.
30. CLOSE UP OF A SKYLIGHT ON COASTAL PLAIN
WITH LAVA STALACTITES FORMING ON THE ROOF
OF THE TUBE.,HAWAII VOLCANOES NATIONAL
PARK
31. THE LUNAR MAGMA OCEAN
• The Moon was molten after formation
• As the molten rock cooled, it crystallized
• Some crystals floated others sank
32. Dusty!
• The Moon’s rocks have been pulverized
into a fine powder by continuous
asteroid impacts.
• This “regolith” layer can be 45 feet
thick!
33. Lunar
Landscape
Lunar Highlands
Bright, heavily cratered, Lunar
Highlands – terrae. Mostly
plagioclase rocks that are
about four and a half billion
years old!
Dark, smooth Lunar Lowlands
– maria (“mar-e-uh”). Made of
3 to 4 billion year old basalt –
the same rock type as Earth’s
ocean floor and the Hawaii
volcanos.
Lunar Regolith covers much of
the surface.
34. LITHOLOGY
• Olivine basalt collected by Apollo 15.
• The Apollo program brought back 380.05 kilograms (837.87 lb) of lunar surface material,
most of which is stored at the Lunar Receiving Laboratory in Houston, Texas, and the
unmanned Soviet Luna programme returned 326 grams (11.5 oz) of lunar material.
• These rocks have proved to be invaluable in deciphering the geologic evolution of the
Moon. Lunar rocks are in large part made of the same common rock forming minerals as
found on Earth, such as olivine, pyroxene, and plagioclase feldspar (anorthosite).
• Plagioclase feldspar is mostly found in the lunar crust, whereas pyroxene and olivine are
typically seen in the lunar mantle.
• The mineral ilmenite is highly abundant in some mare basalts, and a new mineral named
armalcolite (named for Armstrong, Aldrin, and Collins, the three members of the Apollo 11
crew) was first discovered in the lunar samples.
35. • The maria are composed predominantly of basalt, whereas the highland
regions are iron-poor and composed primarily of anorthosite, a rock
composed primarily of calcium-rich plagioclase feldspar.
• Another significant component of the crust are the igneous Mg-suite rocks,
such as the troctolites, norites, and KREEP-basalts. These rocks are
believed to be genetically related to the petrogenesis of KREEP.
• Composite rocks on the lunar surface often appear in the form of breccias.
Of these, the subcategories are called fragmental, granulitic, and impact-
melt breccias, depending on how they were formed.
• The mafic impact melt breccias, which are typified by the low-K Fra
Mauro composition, have a higher proportion of iron and magnesium than
typical upper crust anorthositic rocks, as well as higher abundances of
KREEP.
40. Topography
A lunar outpost will
have to be built in a
safe, relatively flat
location that is
easy to reach on
foot or by Moon
buggy.
Apollo 15 Landing Site
20 km
12 miles
42. The Lunar Reconnaissance
Orbiter Mission
LRO spacecraft launched on June 18, 2009
It orbits around the Moon & collects data to:
I. Characterize solar radiation on the lunar surface
and how it might impact humans and materials.
II. Make a high resolution global, 3-D map of the
Moon’s surface so we can select landing sites.
III.Make very detailed maps of the Moon’s
resources and the Moon’s polar regions to see if
water ice is present.
43. Exploring the
Moon
• 1950s to 1960s -
probes
• Neil Armstrong
First man on the
Moon – July 20,
1969
• Six Apollo missions
(1969-1972)
– 382 kg (842 lbs)
rocks
• 12 Americans have
walked on the moon
44.
45. FACTS OF MOON
Property Earth Moon
Equatorial
diameter
12,756km 3,476km
Surface area 510 million sq km 37.8 million sq km
Mass 5.98 x 10²4kg 7.35 x 1022kg
Density 5.52 grams per cubic cm 3.34 grams per cubic cm
Surface
gravity
9.8 m/sec/sec 1.63 m/sec/sec
Crust Silicate rocks. Continents dominated by granites.
Ocean crust dominated by basalt.
Silicate rocks.Highlands dominated by
feldspar-rich
rocks and maria by basalt.
Mantle Silicate rocks dominated by minerals containing iron
and magnesium.
Similar to Earth.
Core Iron, nickel metal Same, but core is much smaller
Atmosphere 78 % nitrogen,
21 % oxygen
Basically none. Some carbon gases (CO2
,CO, and methane), but very little of them.
Length of day 23.93 hours 27.3 Earth days
Surface
features
25 % land
(seven continents) rest water bodies.
84 % heavily-cratered
highlands.
16 % basalt-covered maria.
