How were the smooth dark plains called maria formed on the moon’s surface?

The maria basins were formed beginning about 3.9 billion years ago during a period of intense bombardment by asteroid-sized bodies. This was well after the lunar crust had cooled and solidified enough, following the Moon’s formation, to retain large impact scars.

How were the very smooth dark plains called the maria formed on the Moon’s surface?

The maria were formed after large impacts from meteors carved out basins in the lunar crust. When the Moon was volcanic, magma seeped to the surface, filled the basins and eventually hardened, resulting in the relatively smooth flat areas seen today.

How was maria on the Moon formed?

Planetary Satellites, Natural

The result was the melting and eruption of basaltic lava onto the lunar surface between 3.8 to about 2.8 billion years ago to form the lunar maria. This lava was highly fluid under the weaker gravitational field of the Moon and spread over vast distances.

How did the maria on the Moon’s surface form quizlet?

2 – Maria formed when lava flowed out of the moon, filled large craters, and cooled to solid rock. The composition of the moon and the composition of Earth’s mantle are similar.

How is a maria formed?

The maria were formed by the extrusion of vast amounts of lava that accumulated in the lowlands of large craters or basins and, in places, overflowed and spread over parts of the lunar highlands. The maria are thus relatively young features of the lunar surface, even though they began to form four billion years ago.

How did the relatively smooth regions on the Moon known as the lunar maria form quizlet?

immense impact basins that are smooth because they were covered by lava flows after a period of heavy bombardment early in the Moon’s history.

How do the maria differ from the highlands?

How do maria differ from highlands. Maria are darker, less cratered, smoother, younger, higher in iron, and generally lower in elevation than the highlands. What are lunar rilles. Lunar rilles are river-like valleys and were most likely formed when lava flowed on the lunar surface.

How did the relatively smooth regions on the Moon known as the lunar maria form?

The maria were formed after large impacts from meteors carved out basins in the lunar crust. When the Moon was volcanic, magma seeped to the surface, filled the basins and eventually hardened, resulting in the relatively smooth flat areas seen today.

What is the difference between maria and highlands on the Moon?

The highlands are heavily cratered and mountainous. We have learned that the maria are relatively young areas on the Moon which were generated after very large impacts penetrated the crust of our Moon and excavated basins.

How are Maria on the Moon similar to the Columbia Plateau?

How are maria on the Moon similar to the Columbia Plateau in the Pacific Northwest? They are both made from fluid basaltic lavas that spread across a flat area.

What are the maria on the Moon quizlet?

Maria are the large, smooth, dark areas of the Moon’s surface. They have few craters. This is a Latin word for “seas” (think of mare). These regions, like most of the Moon, are devoid of water.

Why are there more maria on the Moon’s near side than on its far side?

Why are there dark maria on the moon’s near side, but not far side? Penn State astrophysicists think they have the answer. They believe that the absence of maria, which is due to a difference in crustal thickness between the near side of the moon and the far side, is a consequence of how the moon originally formed.

How can you determine the relative ages of the Moon’s maria and highlands?

How do astronomers know whether lunar highlands or lunar maria have older surfaces? The presence of many more craters means that there has been more time for impacts in the highlands, so they are older surfaces. The moon’s craters Copernicus and Tycho both have circular rims with a central peak.

What evidence indicates that maria on the Moon are younger than the highlands of the Moon?

In contrast the surface of the Moon is much older, with much more cratering. Further, different parts of the surface of the Moon exhibit different amounts of cratering and therefore are of different ages: the maria are younger than the highlands, because they have fewer craters.

How are highlands formed on the Moon?

These meteorites formed from fragmental debris near the surface of the Moon. The lunar highlands represent the ancient lunar crust that has been gardened extensively by meteoritic bombardment, particularly during the early period of intense bombardment around 3.9 Ga ago, resulting in extensive brecciation.

How old are the maria on the Moon?

between 3.1 and 3.9 billion years ago

V.A.
The lunar maria (or plains), which were formed between 3.1 and 3.9 billion years ago, are the youngest geologic units on the lunar surface, except for more recent impact craters.

What is maria on the Moon’s surface?

The lunar maria (/ˈmɑːriə/; singular: mare /ˈmɑːreɪ/) are large, dark, basaltic plains on Earth’s Moon, formed by ancient asteroid impacts.. They were dubbed maria, Latin for ‘seas’, by early astronomers who mistook them for actual seas.

Who named the lunar maria?

It includes other basaltic plains, including the one oceanus as well as features known by the names lacus, palus and sinus. The modern system of lunar nomenclature was introduced in 1651 by Giovanni Battista Riccioli. Riccioli’s map of the Moon was drawn by Francesco Maria Grimaldi, who has a crater named after him.