Reevaluating Mare Moscoviense And Its Vicinity Using Chang’e-2 Microwave Sounder Data

Abstract

Mare Moscoviense (148°E, 27°N) is one of the few large maria on the lunar farside, with the thinnest crust and a positive gravity anomaly. In this paper, the Chang’E-2 Microwave Sounder (CELMS) data was employed to study the microwave thermal emission features of mare basalts in Moscoviense Basin. The time angle and linear interpolation method are used to generate the brightness temperature (TB) maps at noon and night, as well as the TB difference (dTB) map. The obtained important results are as follows. (1) A new geologic map is generated with the TB and dTB maps using the maximum likelihood method, which gives a new expression about the basaltic units in Mare Moscoviense compared to the optical results; (2) the substrate temperature of Moscoviense Basin is likely warmer than what we know; (3) unit Ihtm (a Late (?) Imbrian, mid- to high-Ti, high-Fe basalt) is re-understood as two independent volcanic features with their own fissures; (4) the dTB maps firstly indicate that the depth lunar regolith is homogeneous in the highlands surrounding Mare Moscoviense, at least in the microwave domain, and secondly that there exists a special material bringing about the low dTB anomaly in the shallow layer of the east highlands. The results will be of great significance to better understand the basaltic volcanism of the Moon.