Reddening and darkening trends of on/off swirls and the relationship with magnetic field strength

Abstract

AbstractLunar swirls are albedo features associated with magnetic anomalies, and their formation mechanism has long been debated. Because spectral properties of lunar swirls provide information on space weathering environments and surface compositions, differences in the spectra between swirls and background regions can give a clue to their formation. We analyze space weathering for swirls in the lunar highlands and maria using the VIS-NIR spectral slope, 1550 nm reflectance, and 950 nm band depth. We find that highland swirls show lower reddening-to-darkening ratios than off-swirl regions, implying more decreases of nanophase iron relative to microphase iron on swirls. We also use magnetic field data to investigate the influence of the crustal magnetic field on the space weathering of a few selected swirls. The Reiner Gamma swirl becomes more immature as the magnetic field strength increases, although the entire swirl has a high albedo. Especially, the Reiner Gamma tail shows that the stronger magnetic field makes the surface undergo less spectral reddening. Our results support the solar wind stand-off hypothesis, which is that the solar wind deflected by the crustal field determines the optical property of the surface.