Transcript The Moon

The
Moon
MOON FACTS
Natural satellite of earth
Gravity 1/6 of earth - WHY?
No atmosphere - WHY?
Temp. difference: 134 C to -170 C -WHY?
LUNAR SURFACE
• Light areas - rough
highlands
• Dark areas - Maria solidified lava
• Rilles - long deep
channels running
through maria.
• Regolith - layer of
dust on surface
Man on the Moon
Craters
• Bowl shaped
depressions
• Most formed millions
of years ago
• Rays - “splash
marks” caused by
recent collisions
Types of Craters
Simple Crater
Complex Crater
Moon Rocks
Basalt
• Dark colored
• Fine Grained
• Rich in
magnesium,
titanium and iron
Anorthosites
• Light-colored
• coarse-grained
• rich in calcium
and aluminum
Breccia
• fragments of
several rocks
melted together
formed impact
MOON FORMATION - STAGE 1
Moon Formation - Stage One
.
Mars-size planet
hits earth hurling
fragments of earth
into orbit
Moon Formation
Stage 2
Surface covered with hot molten rock.
Densest materials sank to the center.
Moon Formation - Stage 3
Outer surface cooled forming thick
solid crust. Maria
formed
as meteorites struck moon surface
and molten lava flowed up to the surface.
INTERIOR OF MOON
• Crust - 60 to 100 km
thick composed
mainly of oxygen and
silicon.
• Mantle - 1000 km
thick composed of
silica, magnesium, and
iron.
• Core - <700 km
composed of iron.