Topography, structure, and mare ridges in southern Mare Imbrium and northern Oceanus Procellarum

Abstract

The gross topography in southern Mare Imbrium and northern Oceanus Procellarum correlates with the buried structure and deposits of the Imbrium Basin and its rim, and many of the mare slopes may be depositional and reflect the pre-existing major features of the basin. Post-depositional, local distortion of the mare surface, however, is present and in many places associated with mare ridges. Many mare ridges are concentric to the Imbrium Basin suggesting that they are influenced by basin structures. Morphologic diversity of mare ridges suggests that not all have the same origin, and volcanic activity took place along some of them. Most mare ridges are associated with faults. The faults could be reverse and associated with a shrinking of the moon, however, some ridges parallel slopes and could be interpreted as decollement thrust faults along gliding horizons or as vertical faults caused by differential gravitational settling along lines that separate areas that are thinly flooded on topographic highs from areas that are thickly flooded in adjacent lows.