Volcanic landforms on the Moon
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    Abstract:

    Volcanism, one of the major endogenic geological processes on Moon, provides an important window into lunar geological and thermal evolution history and is an important objective of lunar science and explorations. In this contribution, we first summarize the basic principles of lunar volcanism, especially the dike propagation model. In this scenario, depending on the differing status of dike emplacement, eruptive activities of different styles are envisaged, leading to the production of a wide range of volcanic landforms on the surface of the Moon: (1) dikes that propagate to the shallow crust and stall would not cause eruptions but produce crater chains, graben or floor- fractured craters; (2) dikes that propagate to the surface and cause explosive eruptions would produce small volcanic cones, regional pyroclastic deposits, Moon- wide dispersal of magma and gas droplets, dark- halo craters, and a dark pyroclastic ring; (3) dikes that propagate to the surface and cause effusive eruption, depending on the magma effusion rates, would produce small lava flows, mare domes, compound lava flow fields, sinuous rilles, extensive lava flows, and volcanic complexes. We also introduce some uncommon volcanic landforms observed on the lunar surface, including irregular mare patches, ring moat dome structures and silicic non- mare domes. Recent lunar exploration and analyses have provided many insights into these unusual volcanic features, while more details concerning their nature and origin are yet to be explored by future lunar missions and studies.

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Qiao Le, Chen Jian, Ling Zongcheng.2021. Volcanic landforms on the Moon[J]. Acta Geologica Sinica,95(9):2678-2691

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History
  • Received:April 30,2021
  • Revised:June 10,2021
  • Adopted:
  • Online: July 23,2021
  • Published: