Anorthosite.
Anorthosite is an important rock type on the surface of the Moon as it makes up most of the lunar highlands and crust. This sample collected by the astronauts of Apollo 16 has been determined to be 4.19 billion years old.
What are lunar highlands made of?
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 are lunar highlands formed?
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.
What types of rocks are there on the Moon?
The two most common kinds are basalts and anorthosites. 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.
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.
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 formed the highlands?
The chain of volcanic islands collided with the Grampian Highlands about 480–460 million years ago. This is called the Grampian Event. Baltica collided with the Northern Highlands about 440 million years ago, pushing together the Northern Highlands and North-west Seaboard. This is called the Scandian Event.
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.
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.
Can sedimentary rocks form on the Moon?
Metamorphic rocks are rocks that have changed their types through heat pressure. For example, granite, an igneous rock, can be turned into marble. On the Moon, there is no liquid water, as I’m sure you know. So we can’t get sedimentary rocks at all.
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.
Is there sedimentary rock on the Moon?
Water and wind often play a part in shaping these rocks over considerable periods. The Earth does have igneous rock, especially in volcanic zones. However, without wind or water on the Moon, there was no chance of sedimentary rock-forming there.
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.
What was lunar mare formed by?
Planetary Satellites, Natural
The result was the melting and eruption of basaltic lava onto the lunar surface between 3.8 to about 2.8 billion years ago to form the lunar maria. This lava was highly fluid under the weaker gravitational field of the Moon and spread over vast distances.
How was the lunar soil created quizlet?
Billions of years of impacts breaking up the rocks and scattering the debris over the surface have created lunar “soil.” Enough impacts have occurred to cover much of the surface with sand- and dust-sized particles.
How did the feldspar rich lunar highlands most likely form?
They appear to have formed when feldspar crystallized and floated to the top of a global magma ocean that surrounded the Moon soon after it formed.
Where do most sedimentary rocks form?
Common sedimentary rocks include sandstone, limestone, and shale. These rocks often start as sediments carried in rivers and deposited in lakes and oceans. When buried, the sediments lose water and become cemented to form rock. Tuffaceous sandstones contain volcanic ash.
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 is known as highlands?
Highlands or uplands are areas of high elevation such as a mountainous region, elevated mountainous plateau or high hills.
What caused lunar mountains?
The moon has neither tectonic plates nor volcanic action. Virtually all of its mountains are the result of impacts by asteroids in the distant past. Early in the moon’s history, there were many gigantic asteroids in the solar system.
What is two special features of highlands on the Moon?
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.