Lunar Highlands ● Elevated areas on the moon’s surface. ● The lunar highlands are the lighter areas on the moon visible to the naked eye.
What caused the lunar highlands?
The Indian mission through the Moon mineralogy mapper has offered proof that the Moon’s highlands were formed by the eruption of a hot liquid inside the Moon’s surface popularly known as magma.
Where are lunar highlands?
The face of the Moon turned toward us is termed the near side (image at right). It is divided into light areas called the Lunar Highlands and darker areas called Maria (literally, “seas”; the singular is Mare).
What is the difference between lunar highlands and maria?
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.
How old are lunar highlands?
Most highland samples have ages in the range 3.8–4.3 billion years. The radiometric ages of the ejecta blankets from the large collisions tend to cluster around 3.9 billion years, with the dates for the Imbrium collision being 3.85 billion years and that for Nectaris, 3.90 or 3.92 billion years.
What are lunar highlands rocks?
This anorthosite, or highland rock, was found near Spook Crater at the Apollo 16 landing site. Anorthosite is a calcium rich white rock which is believed to make up the ancient crust of the Moon. It is is made up almost entirely of plagioclase feldspar, a common, light-weight, light-colored mineral on Earth.
What is true of 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.
Are there diamonds on the Moon?
Scientists have found evidence of cubic zirconia in Moon rocks, showing that the universe not only holds diamonds, but its own fire-safe knock-offs.
Are the lunar highlands the oldest?
The oldest lunar features are the lunar highlands. This is mainly determined by looking at the number of impact craters that the different areas of the moon have. The longer that a feature has been around, the more time it has had to be hit by the meteors that leave impact craters.
What color are lunar highlands?
red
Areas appearing red generally correspond to the lunar highlands, while blue to orange shades indicate the ancient volcanic lava flow of a mare, or lunar sea.
Is there gold on the Moon?
The moon isn’t so barren after all. A 2009 NASA mission—in which a rocket slammed into the moon and a second spacecraft studied the blast—revealed that the lunar surface contains an array of compounds, including gold, silver, and mercury, according to PBS.
What is the difference between mare and highlands?
Maria vs. Highlands
The side facing the earth consists of dark (basaltic) lava filled basins called mare (maria) or seas. The lighter areas are heavily impacted terrain called the highlands.
Why is the Moon called maria?
Observation of the Moon: Lunar Maria
Visually or in small binoculars, the lunar maria [ˈmaːriə’] (singular: mare [ˈmaːre’]) are large, dark plains on the surface of Moon. They were called maria, Latin for “seas”, by early astronomers who were thinking they really contain the water.
What is the most abundant element on the lunar highlands?
Oxygen is the most abundant element in the Moon’s regolith, making up between 40-45% of the regolith by weight.
What are the circles on the Moon called?
The surface of the Moon is covered in huge dark spots, visible from Earth even with the naked eye. These patches are known as maria – a Latin word meaning ‘seas’.
How old is moon in human years?
4.36 billion – The approximate age of the moon in years (in 2013, new analysis of rock samples gathered in 1972 (by the Apollo 16 mission) led scientists to conclude that the moon is around 100 million years younger than the previous given age of 4.567 billion years).
Which tartan has been on the Moon?
MacBean tartan
Alan Bean carried the MacBean tartan aboard the Lunar Module Intrepid in November 1969 in recognition of his Scottish roots.
What rock is the Moon made of?
The Moon’s surface is dominated by igneous rocks. The lunar highlands are formed of anorthosite, an igneous rock predominantly of calcium-rich plagioclase feldspar.
Why are Moon rocks so valuable?
Moon rocks are so expensive because that’s the result of human choice and desire created. These cosmic materials are not made of gold or diamonds, and only some samples contain rare minerals. Moon rocks are alluring and desirable because they do not come from Earth.
How much is a lunar rock worth?
NASA assessed the value of the rocks at around $50,800 per gram in 1973 dollars, based on the total cost of retrieving the samples. That works to just a hair over $300,000 a gram in today’s currency.
What is the rarest moon rock?
The researchers believe Tranquilliltyite is the final ‘lunar’ mineral to be found on earth because it is rare, small and prone to change.