The unequal distribution of volcanic products between the Earth-facing lunar side and the farside is the result of a complex thermal history. The Chang'e-4 mission targeted the Moon's farside, landing on the floor of Von Kármán crater (VK) inside the South Pole-Aitken (SPA) basin. This paper presents the first deep subsurface stratigraphic structure based on ground-penetrating radar (GPR) data from the Yutu-2 rover. The radargram reveals at least four layers of distinct lava flows, likely from the Imbrium Epoch, with thicknesses ranging from 12 m to 100 m, indicating multiple lava-infilling events within VK crater. The average loss tangent of mare basalts is estimated at 0.0040-0.0061.
Publisher
Nature Communications
Published On
Jul 09, 2020
Authors
Jialong Lai, Yi Xu, Roberto Bugiolacchi, Xu Meng, Long Xiao, Minggang Xie, Bin Liu, Kaichang Di, Xiaoping Zhang, Bin Zhou, Shaoxiang Shen, Luyuan Xu
Tags
Chang'e-4
Moon
ground-penetrating radar
lava flows
subsurface stratigraphy
thermal history
Yutu-2
Related Publications
Explore these studies to deepen your understanding of the subject.