Home > Research > Publications & Outputs > Lunar Irregular Mare Patches

Electronic data

  • Imps-submitted

    Rights statement: An edited version of this paper was published by AGU. Copyright 2020 American Geophysical Union. Qiao, L., Head, J. W., Ling, Z., & Wilson, L. (2020). Lunar irregular mare patches: Classification, characteristics, geologic settings, updated catalog, origin, and outstanding questions. Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets, 125, e2019JE006362. https://doi.org/10.1029/2019JE006362 To view the published open abstract, go to http://dx.doi.org and enter the DOI.

    Accepted author manuscript, 3.66 MB, PDF document

    Available under license: CC BY-NC: Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License

Links

Text available via DOI:

View graph of relations

Lunar Irregular Mare Patches: Classification, Characteristics, Geologic Settings, Updated Catalog, Origin, and Outstanding Questions

Research output: Contribution to Journal/MagazineJournal articlepeer-review

Published
Close
Article numbere2019JE006362
<mark>Journal publication date</mark>1/07/2020
<mark>Journal</mark>Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets
Issue number7
Volume125
Number of pages26
Publication StatusPublished
Early online date25/06/20
<mark>Original language</mark>English

Abstract

One of the most mysterious lunar features discovered during the Apollo era was Ina, a ~2 × 3-km depression composed of bleb-like mounds surrounded by hummocky and blocky terrains. Subsequent studies identified dozens of similar features in lunar maria, describing them as Irregular Mare Patches (IMPs). Due to the unusual and complex characteristics of IMPs, their specific formation mechanism is debated. To improve our understanding of the nature and origin of IMPs, we undertook an updated search and geological characterization of all IMPs and established a classification approach encompassing the full spectrum of IMPs. We present an updated catalog of 91 IMPs and survey the detailed characteristics of each IMP. We find that the majority of IMPs occur in maria emplaced over three billion years ago, contemporaneous with the peak period of global lunar volcanism. We utilized geologic context information and characteristics to establish two classification schemes for lunar IMPs: (1) geologic context: IMPs are categorized into (a) small shield volcano summit pit floor and flank, (b) linear/sinuous rille interior and adjacent exterior, and (c) typical maria; (2) characteristics: IMPs are classified into (a) “mound + floor” and (b) “pit only” types. We showed the range of characteristics of lunar IMPs was consistent with the waning-stage magmatic foam formation and extrusion scenario in different environments. Our updated catalog and classification raise several outstanding questions concerning the nature and origin of lunar IMPs. Assessing these questions will improve our knowledge of lunar thermal and geologic evolution. ©2020. American Geophysical Union. All Rights Reserved.

Bibliographic note

An edited version of this paper was published by AGU. Copyright 2020 American Geophysical Union. Qiao, L., Head, J. W., Ling, Z., & Wilson, L. (2020). Lunar irregular mare patches: Classification, characteristics, geologic settings, updated catalog, origin, and outstanding questions. Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets, 125, e2019JE006362. https://doi.org/10.1029/2019JE006362 To view the published open abstract, go to http://dx.doi.org and enter the DOI.