Layers of the Moon
On the side closer to the earth the lunar crust is thinner than on the other side of the moon, where it is thicker. Fractures in the thin crust, closer to us, have let magma reach the surface where most of the lava-filled maria are located. The moon’s core is about twenty percent of the size of the whole body, it’s made up of mostly iron and the center of mass is off from the middle of the body by about two thousand meters. So the equipotential surface, which is the part of the surface, or imaginary surface, that would experience equal gravitational pull at all points, is closer to the lunar surface on the hemisphere or side facing the Earth. Which is why the magma starting at the equipotential depths won’t reach the surface on the far side as easily.
The moon consists of four major layers, to start from the inside, the lunar mantle is mostly made up of olivine and pyroxene. Both of these minerals crystallize at higher temperatures and are denser than most “crustal” rocks, which make them sink towards the center of a planet or body as it cools after the formation. The deep lunar crust is made up of “norite” which is a mixture of anorthite and orthopyroxene, which has cooled slowly underground, and scientists think this rock makes up most of the lower lunar crust. The lunar mare crust, the dark regions of the moon, also known as ancient impact basins or very large craters, which have been flooded by volcanic eruptions of basalt, are thought to be very similar to the basalt in Hawaii, and are what make up the lunar mare crust. The lunar highland crust is made up of a rock called anorthosite, which is dominated by the mineral anorthorite. Anthorite is a type of feldspar and one of the more common mineral groups found in types of granite on the earth. Those are the layers of the moon in order from the middle out.
The moon consists of four major layers, to start from the inside, the lunar mantle is mostly made up of olivine and pyroxene. Both of these minerals crystallize at higher temperatures and are denser than most “crustal” rocks, which make them sink towards the center of a planet or body as it cools after the formation. The deep lunar crust is made up of “norite” which is a mixture of anorthite and orthopyroxene, which has cooled slowly underground, and scientists think this rock makes up most of the lower lunar crust. The lunar mare crust, the dark regions of the moon, also known as ancient impact basins or very large craters, which have been flooded by volcanic eruptions of basalt, are thought to be very similar to the basalt in Hawaii, and are what make up the lunar mare crust. The lunar highland crust is made up of a rock called anorthosite, which is dominated by the mineral anorthorite. Anthorite is a type of feldspar and one of the more common mineral groups found in types of granite on the earth. Those are the layers of the moon in order from the middle out.
Elise Nelson