Publication Date:
2012-12-12
Description:
High-resolution gravity data obtained from the dual Gravity Recovery and Interior Laboratory (GRAIL) spacecraft show that the bulk density of the Moon's highlands crust is 2550 kilograms per cubic meter, substantially lower than generally assumed. When combined with remote sensing and sample data, this density implies an average crustal porosity of 12% to depths of at least a few kilometers. Lateral variations in crustal porosity correlate with the largest impact basins, whereas lateral variations in crustal density correlate with crustal composition. The low-bulk crustal density allows construction of a global crustal thickness model that satisfies the Apollo seismic constraints, and with an average crustal thickness between 34 and 43 kilometers, the bulk refractory element composition of the Moon is not required to be enriched with respect to that of Earth.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Wieczorek, Mark A -- Neumann, Gregory A -- Nimmo, Francis -- Kiefer, Walter S -- Taylor, G Jeffrey -- Melosh, H Jay -- Phillips, Roger J -- Solomon, Sean C -- Andrews-Hanna, Jeffrey C -- Asmar, Sami W -- Konopliv, Alexander S -- Lemoine, Frank G -- Smith, David E -- Watkins, Michael M -- Williams, James G -- Zuber, Maria T -- New York, N.Y. -- Science. 2013 Feb 8;339(6120):671-5. doi: 10.1126/science.1231530. Epub 2012 Dec 5.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉Institut de Physique du Globe de Paris, Sorbonne Paris Cite, Universite Paris Diderot, Case 7071, Lamarck A, 5, rue Thomas Mann, 75205 Paris Cedex 13, France. wieczor@ipgp.fr〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23223394" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉
Print ISSN:
0036-8075
Electronic ISSN:
1095-9203
Topics:
Biology
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Chemistry and Pharmacology
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Computer Science
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Medicine
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Natural Sciences in General
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Physics
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