Large impact cratering during lunar magma ocean solidification

The lunar cratering record is used to constrain the bombardment history of both the Earth and the Moon. However, it is suggested from different perspectives, including impact crater dating, asteroid dynamics, lunar samples, impact basin-forming simulations, and lunar evolution modelling, that the Moon could be missing evidence of its earliest cratering record. Here we report that impact basins formed during the lunar magma ocean solidification should have produced different crater morphologies in comparison to later epochs. A low viscosity layer, mimicking a melt layer, between the crust and mantle could cause the entire impact basin size range to be susceptible to immediate and extreme crustal relaxation forming almost unidentifiable topographic and crustal thickness signatures. Lunar basins formed while the lunar magma ocean was still solidifying may escape detection, which is agreeing with studies that suggest a higher impact flux than previously thought in the earliest epoch of Earth-Moon evolution.

The search for lunar mantle rocks exposed on the surface of the Moon

The lunar surface is ancient and well-preserved, recording Solar System history and planetary evolution processes. Ancient basin-scale impacts excavated lunar mantle rocks, which are expected to remain present on the surface. Sampling these rocks would provide insight into fundamental planetary processes, including differentiation and magmatic evolution. There is contention among lunar scientists as to what lithologies make up the upper lunar mantle, and where they may have been exposed on the surface. We review dynamical models of lunar differentiation in the context of recent experiments and spacecraft data, assessing candidate lithologies, their distribution, and implications for lunar evolution.

Geological Characteristics of the Moon

The geological characteristics of the Moon provide the fundamental data that permit the study of the geological processes that have formed and modified the crust, that record the state and evolution of the lunar interior, and that identify the external processes that have been important in lunar evolution. Careful documentation of the stratigraphic relationships among these features can then be used to reconstruct the sequence of events and the geological history of the Moon. These results can then be placed in the context of the geological evolution of the terrestrial planets, including Earth. The Moon’s global topography and internal structures include landforms and features that comprise the geological characteristics of its surface. The Moon is dominated by the ancient cratered highlands and the relatively younger flat and smooth volcanic maria. Unlike the current geological characteristics of Earth, the major geological features of the Moon (impact craters and basins, lava flows and related features, and tectonic scarps and ridges) all formed predominantly in the first half of the solar system’s history. In contrast to the plate-tectonic dominated Earth, the Moon is composed of a single global lithospheric plate (a one-plate planet) that has preserved the record of planetary geological features from the earliest phases of planetary evolution. Exciting fundamental outstanding questions form the basis for the future international robotic and human exploration of the Moon.

Scientific Knowledge of the Moon, 1609 to 1969

Discoveries stemming from the Apollo 11 mission solved many problems that had vexed scientists for hundreds of years. Research and discoveries over the preceding 360 years identified many critical questions and led to a variety of answers: How did the Moon form, how old is its surface, what is the origin of lunar craters, does the Moon have an atmosphere, how did the Moon change over time, is the Moon geologically active today, and did life play any role in lunar evolution? In general, scientists could not convincingly answer most of these questions because they had too little data and too little understanding of astronomy and geology, and were forced to rely on reasoning and speculation, in some cases wasting hundreds of years of effort. Surprisingly, by 1969, most of the questions had been correctly answered, but a paucity of data made it uncertain which answers were correct.