Abstract
Lunar floor-fractured craters (FFCs) are a distinguished type of crater found on the surface of the Moon with radial, concentric, and/or polygonal fractures. In the present study, we selected the Posidonius FCC to explore the mineralogy, morphology and tectonic characteristics using remote sensing datasets. The Posidonius crater is vested with a wide moat of lava separating the crater rim inner wall terraces from the fractured central floor. Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter’s (LRO) images and Digital Elevation Model (DEM) data were used to map the tectonics and morphology of the present study. The Moon Mineralogy Mapper (M3) data of Chandrayaan-1 were used to investigate the mineralogy of the region through specified techniques such as integrated band depth, band composite and spectral characterization. The detailed mineralogical analysis indicates the noritic-rich materials in one massif among four central peak rings and confirm intrusion (mafic pluton). Spectral analysis from the fresh crater of the Posidonius moat mare unit indicates clinopyroxene pigeonite in nature. Integrated studies of the mineralogy, morphology and tectonics revealed that the study region belongs to the Class-III category of FFCs. The lithospheric loading by adjacent volcanic load (Serenitatis basin) generates a stress state and distribution of the fracture system.
Highlights
College of Natural and Health Sciences, Zayed University, Abu Dhabi P.O
Lunar floor-fractured craters (FFCs) are a distinguished type of crater found on the surface of the Moon with radial, concentric, and/or polygonal fractures on their floor [7,8]
A few FFCs were investigated based on morphology, mineralogy, and chronological characteristics using remote sensing datasets of recent missions, such as Oppenheimer, Atlas, Gassendi, Humboldt, Lavoisier, etc
Summary
The impact cratering process and volcanism are two major geological processes of the Moon that shape its surface morphological features. Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera (LROC) to characterize their morphological features and map their distribution around the moon [8]. Among these data, a few FFCs were investigated based on morphology, mineralogy, and chronological characteristics using remote sensing datasets of recent missions, such as Oppenheimer, Atlas, Gassendi, Humboldt, Lavoisier, etc. Al2 O3 [4,5,23,24] In this context, the hyperspectral dataset, such as M3 , plays a vital role in determining minerals and rock types of the lunar surface due to absorption bands within the visible and near infrared region [25,26,27,28,29]. (3) performing compositional and mineralogical analysis using Chandrayaan-1 Moon Mineralogy Mapper (M3 ) data; and (4) searching for mineralogical evidence for the magmatic intrusion and (5) stratigraphical evolution of the study region
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