Moscow Planetarium logo.
Feb 20, 2022
The Moon has been volcanically active for much of its geological history. The first volcanic eruptions occurred about 4.3 billion years ago. Volcanism was most intense between 3.8 and 3 billion years ago.
During this period, most of the lunar lava basalt plains of dark color were formed, which are clearly visible to the naked eye during full moons. It was fissure volcanism. Volcanic structures in the form of volcanic cones are extremely rare on the Moon.
In 1610, Galileo Galilei suggested that these huge dark patches on the Moon were lunar seas. There was no water there, but the term "sea", in relation to these objects, has been preserved: the Sea of Tranquility, the Sea of Abundance, the Sea of Clarity and others. The lunar seas are composed of volcanic rocks: andesites, trachytes, basalts, whose age is estimated at 3–4 billion years.
The bright areas of the Moon's surface, on which hills and mountains are located, are called "continents". The lunar seas are the largest features of the Moon's relief, ranging in size from 200 to 1100 kilometers across. The lunar seas occupy about 40% of the area of the visible side of the Moon.
On the far side of the Moon, the seas are much smaller and smaller in size. The largest of them is the Sea of Moscow with a diameter of about 300 km. The basaltic lava that filled the Sea of Moscow erupted in the late Imbrian epoch 3.8–3.2 billion years ago. The reasons why the basalts of the lunar seas are predominantly on the visible side of the Moon are not clear, and this problem has been discussed by the scientific community to date.
Source: Moscow Planetarium.
Related articles:
Volcanism on Mars
https://orbiterchspacenews.blogspot.com/2022/02/volcanism-on-mars.html
Volcanism on Venus
https://orbiterchspacenews.blogspot.com/2022/02/volcanism-on-venus.html
Volcanism on Io
https://orbiterchspacenews.blogspot.com/2022/01/volcanism-on-io.html
Related links:
ROSCOSMOS Press Release: https://www.roscosmos.ru/34198/
Moscow Planetarium: https://www.roscosmos.ru/tag/moskovskiy-planetariy/
Astronomy: https://www.roscosmos.ru/tag/astronomija/
Moon: https://www.roscosmos.ru/tag/luna/
Images, Text, Credits: ROSCOSMOS/Moscow Planetarium/Orbiter.ch Aerospace/Roland Berga.
Greetings, Orbiter.ch
