Study of olivine-rich dark halo crater – Beaumont L in Mare Nectaris using high resolution remote sensing data

Abstract

Study of dark-haloed craters (DHCs) can provide important information about the geology, mineralogy and evolution of certain hidden mare deposits known as cryptomare. Some DHCs have been identified in the Mare Nectaris region of the near side of the Moon. Beaumont L represents one such DHC situated on the western flank of the Nectaris basin. Moon Mineralogical Mapper (M3) images were used to investigate the composition of DHCs. Morphological investigations have been carried out using Terrain Mapping Camera (TMC) and Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera (LROC) Narrow Angle Camera images. The morphological details captured by TMC and LROC Narrow Angle Camera (NAC) images provide evidence that Beaumont-L is of impact origin and do not show evidence of a volcanic origin. The compositional analysis using M3 data indicates the presence of an olivine rich cryptomare unit excavated due to the Beaumont L impact. Our study also confirms that the band I feature in the reflectance spectra of Beaumont L is completely attributable to olivine deposits without contribution from any type of glass/melt deposits. The presence of olivine in Beaumont L suggests either excavation of olivine-rich cryptomare or a subsurface mafic pluton.