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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 true atmosphere , and the absence of free oxygen and water eliminates erosion due to weather .
The Pre-Nectarian period is defined from the point at which the lunar crust formed, to the time of the Nectaris impact event. Nectaris is a multi-ring impact basin that formed on the near side of the Moon, and its ejecta blanket serves as a useful stratigraphic marker. 30 impact basins from this period are recognized, the oldest of which is the South Pole–Aitken basin.
In 2019, a reanalysis of nearly 50 years of data collected from the Lunar Laser Ranging experiment with lunar gravity field data from the GRAIL mission, shows that for a relaxed lunar fluid core with non-hydrostatic lithospheres, the core flattening is determined as (2.2 ± 0.6) × 10 −4 with the radii of its core-mantle boundary as 381 ± 12 km.
The ages of the mare basalts have been determined both by direct radiometric dating and by the technique of crater counting.The radiometric ages range from about 3.16 to 4.2 billion years old (Ga), [4] whereas the youngest ages determined from crater counting are about 1.2 Ga. [5] Updated measurements of samples collected by the Chang’e-5 mission show that some lunar basalts could be as ...
The volcanic field is named after the Lunar Crater vent, [3] the most distinctive vent in the volcanic field. [1] The area is dry and rugged and thus uninhabited. [4] Owing to its diverse geology and accessibility, Lunar Crater volcanic field was used to test prototype Mars rovers [5] and as a training ground for astronauts [6] for the Moon ...
This is a list of named lunar craters. The large majority of these features are impact craters . The crater nomenclature is governed by the International Astronomical Union , and this listing only includes features that are officially recognized by that scientific society.
But astronomists say large-scale lunar mining could be bad news for scientific research. Mining the moon for water, helium-3, and rare earth elements could become a multibillion-dollar industry in ...
KREEP might be of interest in lunar mining if a lunar base were to be established. Potassium and phosphorus are important for plant growth (NPK fertilizer is used on earth) whereas uranium and thorium are potential fuels for nuclear power. However, the relatively low concentrations of the desired materials compared to earthbound ores may make ...