Connotea
CiteULike
del.ico.us
BibSonomyAbstract
Refined thorium abundances for lunar red spots: Implications for evolved, nonmare volcanism on the Moon
Space Science and Applications, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, New Mexico, USA
Space Science and Applications, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, New Mexico, USA
Hawai'i Institute of Geophysics and Planetology, University of Hawaii, Honolulu, Hawaii, USA
Hydrology, Geochemistry, and Geology, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, New Mexico, USA
Space Science and Applications, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, New Mexico, USA
Space Science and Applications, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, New Mexico, USA
We have used improved knowledge of the spatial distribution of thorium (Th) on the lunar surface, in conjunction with a forward modeling analysis of Lunar Prospector gamma ray data, to estimate the thorium abundances of lunar red spots. The results from this study can be combined with preexisting compositional and morphologic evidence to suggest that Hansteen Alpha, the Gruithuisen domes, and the Lassell massif are silicic, nonmare, volcanic constructs, similar in nature to terrestrial rhyolite domes. We propose that either silicate liquid immiscibility or, more likely, basaltic underplating could have produced lunar rhyolite domes. Thus the Lunar Prospector data presented in this study provide new information about the full range of volcanic and crustal processes that could have occurred on the Moon.
Received 6 September 2005; accepted 1 February 2006; published 7 June 2006.
Citation: (2006), Refined thorium abundances for lunar red spots: Implications for evolved, nonmare volcanism on the Moon, J. Geophys. Res., 111, E06002, doi:10.1029/2005JE002592.
Cited By