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Moon Crater Origins and Types Explained

Delve into the fascinating history of moon craters, from early volcanic theories to impact origins discussed circa 1920. Learn about different crater types, the Apollo landings, and key lunar features like Copernicus and Mare Imbrium.

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Moon Crater Origins and Types Explained

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  1. Craters of the Moon Read Ch. 4 of the text, sections 4.1 through 4.6

  2. William Herschel thought he saw 3 volcanos on the moon in 1787

  3. Arguments circa 1920 in favor of a volcanic origin • Few impact craters known on Earth • Meteor crater (Barringer crater) in Arizona

  4. Moon craters are mainly round • If impacts came in from all directions, wouldn’t we have more elongated craters?

  5. Small craters overlap large craters, rather than vice versa

  6. Some thought they saw craters in the central mountain peaks

  7. Impact origin • Championed by G.K. Gilbert and others in the 19th century, but didn’t really take hold until the middle of the 20th

  8. A Michigan native, Ralph Baldwin, helped turn the argument in favor of impacts

  9. Baldwin compared craters produced by explosions on the earth with the craters of the moon • He found that they followed the same trend of diameter versus depth • Impacts produce a generally round explosive crater regardless of direction of impact

  10. Apollo Landings • Lunar rocks mainly breccias – rocks shattered by impacts

  11. Crater Types

  12. Simple craters are relatively small

  13. Complex craters are bigger

  14. Copernicus

  15. If Copernicus were 9-inches across, its depth would be only 1/3 of an inch!

  16. King Crater

  17. Basins: the Largest impact features Orientale basin

  18. Mare Imbrium

  19. Mare Imbrium

  20. Mare Humorum

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