Internal structure of the Moon
Having a
Geochemical mapping from orbit implies that the crust of the Moon is largely anorthositic in composition,[3] consistent with the magma ocean hypothesis. In terms of elements, the lunar crust is composed primarily of oxygen, silicon, magnesium, iron, calcium, and aluminium, but important minor and trace elements such as titanium, uranium, thorium, potassium, sulphur, manganese, chromium[4] and hydrogen are present as well. Based on geophysical techniques, the crust is estimated to be on average about 50 km thick.[5]
Partial melting within the mantle of the Moon gave rise to the eruption of mare basalts on the lunar surface. Analyses of these basalts indicate that the mantle is composed predominantly of the minerals
Core
Several lines of evidence imply that the lunar core is small, with a radius of about 350 km or less.[5] The size of the lunar core is only about 20% the size of the Moon itself, in contrast to about 50% as is the case for most other terrestrial bodies. The composition of the lunar core is not well constrained, but most believe that it is composed of metallic iron alloy with a small amount of sulfur and nickel. Analyses of the Moon's time-variable rotations indicate that the core is at least partly molten.[6] Within the giant-impact formation scenario, the core formation of Moon could have occurred within the initial 100–1000 years from the commencement of its accretion from its moonlets. [7]
In 2010, a reanalysis of the old
In 2019, a reanalysis of nearly 50 years of data collected from the
See also
- Lunar resources
- Structure of the Earth
References
- PMID 32695879. Text and images are available under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
- ^ Making it the second densest satellite in the Solar System after Io
- doi:10.2138/rmg.2006.60.2.)
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: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link - ^ "What Chandrayaan 3 has found on moon so far: Oxygen, sulphur, iron, silicon". Hindustan Times. 2023-08-30. Retrieved 2023-11-15.
- ^ doi:10.2138/rmg.2006.60.3. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2014-12-21.)
{{cite journal}}
: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link - S2CID 14801321.
- S2CID 134291699.
- S2CID 206530647.
- S2CID 119508748.
External links
- Moon articles in Planetary Science Research Discoveries, including articles about internal structure of the Moon