The lunar highlands are primarily a light-colored rock known as anorthosite, which consists primarily of the mineral plagioclase.
What type of rock forms the lunar highlands?
anorthosite
The lunar highlands are formed of anorthosite, an igneous rock predominantly of calcium-rich plagioclase feldspar.
What elements are most common in the lunar highlands?
The lunar basalts, relatively rich in iron and many also in titanium, are found in the maria. In the highlands the rocks are largely anorthosites, which are relatively rich in aluminum, calcium, and silicon.
What are the 4 types of rocks that are found on the Moon?
There are four types of rocks commonly found on the Moon: Basalt, Breccia, Highlands, and Regolith (or surface soil). The rocks on the Moon are the result of impact events, or meteoric collisions, throughout the Moon’s history.
What are three types of rocks found on the Moon?
Types of rocks on the Moon: basalt, anorthosite, breccia, and “soil” (regolith).
What are the lunar highlands made of?
The Maria are mostly composed of dark basalts, which form from rapid cooling of molten rock from massive lava flows. The Highlands rocks are largely Anorthosite, which is a kind of igneous rock that forms when lava cools more slowly than in the case of basalts.
Which mineral is abundant in the lunar highlands?
Typically, plagioclase is by far the most abundant and there commonly are substantial amounts of pyroxenes and olivines. Together, these three mineral groups usually, but not always, make up >95% of the crystalline material in the rock and the regolith.
What are lunar rocks made of?
They consist of quartz, plagioclase, orthoclase or alkali feldspar, rare mafics (pyroxene), and rare zircon. The alkali feldspar may have unusual compositions unlike any terrestrial feldspar, and they are often Ba-rich.
What is a characteristic of the Moon’s highlands?
The highlands are heavily cratered and mountainous. We have learned that the maria are relatively young areas on the Moon which were generated after very large impacts penetrated the crust of our Moon and excavated basins. During later volcanic episodes, liquid magma came to the surface and filled these basins.
What is true of the lunar highlands?
What is true of the lunar highlands? They are the oldest part of the lunar surface. they range from 4.6 – 4.4 billion years old, on average. the Moon lacks wind, water and an atmosphere.
What type of rock was brought back from the Moon?
The overall set of lunar samples collected during the Apollo program can be classified into three major rock types, basalts, breccias, and lunar highland rocks. Apollo 11 mainly collected basalts and breccias.
What type of rock is lunar rock?
It is an igneous rock, which means it cooled and solidified from hot melted material. This mineral floated toward the surface and formed anorthosite. Heavier minerals sank and produced the denser interior of the Moon. The primitive lunar crust was most likely made up of anorthosite.
What is suggested by rocks collected from the lunar crust?
What is suggested by rocks collected from the lunar crust? that the moon formed in a molten state in which differentiation occurred. How does the large-impact hypothesis explain the moon’s lack of iron? The iron core of the impacting object could have fallen into the larger body.
What type of rock is lunar meteorite?
Lunar meteorites can be feldspathic rocks (and including breccias), basalts (and including breccias), and mixed breccias, and each has its own specific textural characteristics.
What are the 3 main types of rocks provide and example for each type?
rock
- Igneous rocks are formed from solidified magma or lava.
- Sedimentary rocks are formed from deposited and lithified mineral material.
- Metamorphic rocks are formed when physical and chemical changes occur to igneous, sedimentary, or other metamorphic rocks.
What are the 3 most abundant elements in rocks at the surface of the Moon?
The variation on the Moon is much less because the 3 major minerals in lunar rocks, plagioclase feldspar (usually anorthite), pyroxene, and olivine, all have about the same SiO2 concentration.
Are lunar highlands made of light colored rocks?
The lunar highlands are light-colored areas elevated above the Maria. The highlands are largely made of low-density rocks rich in aluminum. The highlands are much older than the maria and are much more heavily cratered.
What are the highlands of the Moon called?
Most of the crust of the Moon (83%) consists of silicate rocks called anorthosites; these regions are known as the lunar highlands. They are made of relatively low-density rock that solidified on the cooling Moon like slag floating on the top of a smelter.
How did the lunar highlands form quizlet?
How did the lunar highlands form? As the molten Moon gradually solidified, lower-density rock floated to the surface and ultimately became the lunar highlands.
What minerals are found in the highlands?
In addition to lead and zinc, mines in the Interior Highlands have also produced significant quantities of silver and copper. Other metallic elements are also present, including cadmium, nickel, and cobalt. Pyrite, calcite, dolomite, and quartz specimens from the region are highly prized by collectors.
What do lunar rocks look like?
What exactly do Moon rocks look like? They are mostly grayish, and include many basalts, and breccias (rocks made up of broken and reassembled pieces), and mafic plutonic rocks from the highlands. This last type formed underground and were pushed up by the forces that created the lunar mountain ranges.