Global Comparisons of Mare Basalt Types from Clementine Multispectral Data

Details Global Comparisons of Mare Basalt Types from Clementine Multispectral Data Global Comparisons of Mare Basalt Types from Clementine Multispectral Data

May 2001

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2001agusm...p21a03s&link_type=abstract

American Geophysical Union, Spring Meeting 2001, abstract #P21A-03 INVITED

Physics

5464 Remote Sensing, 5480 Volcanism (8450), 6250 Moon (1221)

Scientific paper

The compositions of mare basalts have been examined on a global scale using multispectral images obtained by the Clementine spacecraft. Based on well-documented trends in the optical weathering of mare materials (Staid and Pieters, Icarus, 2000), relatively uncontaminated mare surfaces were identified within fourteen separate deposits. The spectral properties of mature soils and more crystalline mare materials from each deposit were then compared among regions to assess the compositional diversity of nearside and farside lunar volcanism. Abundant highland contamination within the farside maria may contribute to previous classifications of these deposits as homogenous flows with high albedos, weak mafic bands and intermediate titanium contents. The identification of relatively uncontaminated mare materials provides a more accurate assessment of the composition of the basalts originally emplaced within each study region. A variety of spectrally distinct basalts are identified on the farside that represent a wide range of the diversity observed on the nearside. Examination of the freshest uncontaminated basalts associated with mare craters reveals that the mafic band shape of farside deposits also falls within the range of compositions observed on the nearside. The farside mare deposits are dominated by high albedo basalts with low iron and titanium abundances that appear to be associated with their emplacement through a thick feldspathic crust. Similar deposits are observed outside of the major basins on the nearside. However, regions of thin crust and low topography on the farside display a larger variety of basalt types including more iron and titanium rich basalts similar to those found in the major nearside basins. The last major eruptions of mare basalts, which occurred within the nearside Oceanus Procellarum and Imbrium regions, were observed to have unique spectral properties relative to all earlier mare deposits. The optical properties of these late-stage basalts indicate that they represent a unique combination of an iron-rich composition, and an ilmenite and olivine-rich mineralogy.

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