Solar wind interaction with the Reiner Gamma crustal magnetic anomaly: Connecting source magnetization to surface weathering

Abstract

Remanent magnetization has long been known to exist in the lunar crust, yet both the detailed topology and ultimate origin(s) of these fields remains uncertain. Some crustal magnetic fields coincide with surface albedo anomalies, known as lunar swirls, which are thought to be formed by differential surface weathering of the regolith underlying crustal fields due to deflection of incident solar wind protons. Here, we present results from a three-dimensional, self-consistent, plasma hybrid model of the solar wind interaction with two different possible source magnetizations for the Reiner Gamma anomaly. We characterize the plasma interaction with these fields and the resulting spatial distribution of charged-particle weathering of the surface and compare these results to optical albedo measurements of Reiner Gamma. The model results constrain the proposed source magnetizations for Reiner Gamma and suggest that vertical crustal magnetic fields are required to produce the observed “dark lanes.”