Contribution of the mantle to the lunar asymmetry

Details Contribution of the mantle to the lunar asymmetry Contribution of the mantle to the lunar asymmetry

Dec 1980

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=1980icar...44..752w&link_type=abstract

Icarus, vol. 44, Dec. 1980, p. 752-771.

Computer Science

22

Lunar Composition, Lunar Crust, Lunar Mantle, Selenology, Asymmetry, Basalt, Crystallization, Kreep, Lunar Maria

Scientific paper

Evidence of three kinds indicates a lunar compositional asymmetry: mare basalts are much more abundant on the near side; the incompatible rich KREEP component is mainly observed in near-side soils; and materials on the far side are less dense than those of the near side, as indicated by the 2-km offset between the center of mass and center of figure. Recent models to explain the 2-km offset are based on near side-far side differences in the thickness of crustal units. The most widely discussed model calls for a thickness of anorthosite of about 24 km greater on the far side than on the near side, but no satisfactory method of generating such a large difference has been proposed. It is suggested that much of the offset reflects longitudinal differences in mantle composition, primarily resulting from earlier (or more rapid) crystallization of the magma ocean on what is not the far-side hemisphere. As a result, the far-side mantle would be more magnesian and thus less dense than the near-side mantle.

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