Lunar Mare Basaltic Volcanism: Volcanic Features and Emplacement Processes
J. W. Head, Lionel Wilson, H. Hiesinger, C. H. van der Bogert, Yuan Chen, J. L. Dickson, L. R. Gaddis, J. Haruyama, E. R. Jawin, L. M. Jozwiak, Chunlai Li, Jianzhong Liu, Tomokatsu Morota, D. H. Needham, L. R. Ostrach, C. M. Pieters, T. C. Prissel, Yuqi Qian, Le Qiao, Malcolm R. Rutherford, David R. Scott, J. L. Whitten, Long Xiao, Feng Zhang, Ouyang Ziyuan
Abstract
Volcanism is a fundamental process in the geological evolution of the Moon, providing clues to the composition and structure of the mantle, the location and duration of interior melting, the nature of convection and lunar thermal evolution. Progress in understanding volcanism has been remarkable in the short 60-year span of the Space Age. Before Sputnik 1 in 1957, the lunar farside was unknown, the origin of the dark lunar maria was debated (sedimentary or volcanic), and significant controversy surrounded the question of how the multitude of craters on the surface formed.