The highlands are heavily cratered and mountainous. We have learned that the cratered 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 are maria on the Moon?
The lunar maria (or plains), which were formed between 3.1 and 3.9 billion years ago, are the youngest geologic units on the lunar surface, except for more recent impact craters. The release of heat from large impacts caused extensive melting and extrusion of basaltic lavas on the moon.
What are the highlands of the Moon called?
There are several prominent maria. The maria cover only 15 percent of the lunar surface. The remainder of the lunar surface consists of the bright highlands, or terrae. Highlands are rough, mountainous, heavily cratered regions.
What’s the difference between the maria and the highlands of the Moon?
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.
What are the maria highlands and Rilles on the Moon’s surface?
In actuality, maria are huge basins containing lava flows marked by craters, ridges, faults, and straight and meandering valleys called rilles and are devoid of water. There are about 20 major areas of this type, most of them—including the largest ones—located on the side of the Moon that always faces Earth.
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 causes Marias on the Moon?
The lunar maria (/ˈmɑːriə/; singular: mare /ˈmɑːreɪ/) are large, dark, basaltic plains on Earth’s Moon, formed by ancient asteroid impacts on the far side on the Moon that triggered volcanic activity on the opposite (near) side.
Whats the definition of highlands?
high·land ˈhī-lənd. : elevated or mountainous land.
How were highlands on the Moon formed?
– The rocky remains that floated on top transformed into the moon’s highlands – Also formed by volcanic activity. – Volcanic substances leaked through the crust from the lunar interior…. – Lava flows flooded and covered many craters in its path, thus forming the lunar maria.
What type of rock are the highlands on the Moon?
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.
How much of the Moon is highlands?
The highland feldspathic crust of the Moon, about 12% of lunar volume, formed in contrast within a few million years. No crusts similar to the continental crust of the Earth appear to have formed on the other terrestrial planets, where the surface rocks are typically basaltic.
What are highlands Moon NASA?
Lunar Terrain
The light areas of the Moon are known as the highlands. The dark features, called maria (Latin for seas), are impact basins that were filled with lava between 4.2 and 1.2 billion years ago.
What are the 3 surfaces of the Moon?
While the craters, highlands and maria are the moon’s three main landforms, the moon’s surface has a number of other highly visible features. For example, some impact craters have bright rays that shoot outward from the center. Also, the moon has a number of rilles, which are long, thin tunnels or trenches.
What are rays and rilles on the Moon?
What are lunar rilles? What are rays? Lunar rilles formed from lava flows or when bed rock craked as it cooled and shrunk. Rays are long, light streaks of pulverized rocks radiating outward from craters.
What are the rilles found on the Moon?
rille, any of various valleys or trenches on the surface of the Moon. The term was introduced by early telescopic observers—probably by the German astronomer Johann Schröter about 1800—to denote such lunar features. The word rima (from Latin, “fissure”) is often used for the same kind of features.
What are the main differences between the Moon’s highlands and the maria quizlet?
The lava poured out and hardened over. How do maria differ from highlands. Maria are darker, less cratered, smoother, younger, higher in iron, and generally lower in elevation than the highlands. You just studied 11 terms!
What do the lunar highlands look like?
The highlands have low, rounded profiles that resemble the oldest, most eroded mountains on Earth (Figure 3a). Because there is no atmosphere or water on the Moon, there has been no wind, water, or ice to carve them into cliffs and sharp peaks, the way we have seen them shaped on Earth.
Why is there more maria on one side of the Moon?
During the formation of the Moon, lava flows were able to move through this thinner crust and flood the basins on the near side, but not as much on the far side of the Moon. The areas of these lava flows are what we now call maria, which is Latin for “seas”.
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 are the maria seas on the Moon made of?
The lunar maria are impact basins created by collisions with cosmic debris that filled with lava and other lunar material between 1-4 billion years ago.
What is the most famous maria on the Moon?
The Sea of Tranquility Maria
One of the most famous maria is the Sea of Tranquility. This was the landing site chosen by Apollo-11 in part because it was fairly smooth and level. Apollo-11 is world renowned because it gave mankind its first-ever walk on the moon.