Physics
Scientific paper
May 2001
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2001agusm...p21a05p&link_type=abstract
American Geophysical Union, Spring Meeting 2001, abstract #P21A-05
Physics
3672 Planetary Mineralogy And Petrology (5410), 5410 Composition, 5464 Remote Sensing, 5480 Volcanism (8450)
Scientific paper
The South Pole-Aitken Basin (SPA) is the largest and most ancient recognizable basin on the Moon, and the interior of the basin appears enriched in mafic material of unknown origin. The minor amount of late and middle Imbrian mare filling this ancient basin does not account for the mafic anomaly and the amount also seems inconsistent with the low topography and minimal crustal thickness of the region. Using the global multispectral Clementine UVVIS mosaics, we evaluate the mineralogy of mafic material across SPA and document the extent of basaltic volcanism. The low albedo maria mapped within SPA are confirmed to be basaltic by the presence of abundant high-Ca pyroxene. Several areas mapped as smooth plains also exhibit a basaltic signature in material exposed by craters. We interpret such smooth plains, which have a higher albedo than maria, to be "cryptomaria" (hidden ancient maria that have accumulated surficial deposits). Assessment of basaltic materials across SPA leads to the following conclusions: 1) Although the mineralogy of SPA interior is very mafic as a whole, SPA late-Imbrian-aged mare basalts occur primarily in the form of patches of impact crater fill and intercrater plains. The spatial extent of volcanism associated with the SPA basin floor is more like that found at Mare Australe, than the more extensively filled nearside basins. 2) Basaltic volcanism also occurred in SPA prior to the Orientale Basin event. Significant deposits of basaltic cryptomaria have been identified, and their pattern is similar to that of mapped basalts. They occur primarily as patches of intercrater plains in the basin interior. 3) Some of the deposits which mask older mare (forming cryptomaria) appear to predate the Orientale event. If so, these ancient cryptomaria may represent some of the earliest episodes of lunar basaltic volcanism.
Head James W.
Pieters Carlé M.
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