Internal structure of the Moon

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See also: Geology of the Moon

Moon's internal structure

Olivine basalt collected by Apollo 15.

Having a mean density of 3,346.4 kg/m³,[1] the Moon is a differentiated body, being composed of
a geochemically distinct crust, mantle, and planetary core. This structure is believed to have resulted
from the fractional crystallization of a magma ocean shortly after its formation about 4.5 billion years
ago. The energy required to melt the outer portion of the Moon is commonly attributed to a giant
impact event that is postulated to have formed the Earth-Moon system, and the subsequent
reaccretion of material in Earth orbit. Crystallization of this magma ocean would have given rise to a
mafic mantle and a plagioclase-rich crust.
Geochemical mapping from orbit implies that the crust of the Moon is largely anorthositic in
composition,[2] consistent with the magma ocean hypothesis. In terms of elements, the lunar crust is
composed primarily of oxygen, silicon, magnesium, iron, calcium, and aluminium, but important
minor and trace elements such as titanium, uranium, thorium, potassium, and hydrogen are present
as well. Based on geophysical techniques, the crust is estimated to be on average about 50 km
thick.[3]
 Partial melting within the mantle of the Moon gave rise to the eruption of mare basalts on the lunar
surface. Analyses of these basalts indicate that the mantle is composed predominantly of the
minerals olivine, orthopyroxene and clinopyroxene, and that the lunar mantle is more iron-rich than
that of the Earth. Some lunar basalts contain high abundances of titanium (present in the
mineral ilmenite), suggesting that the mantle is highly heterogeneous in
composition. Moonquakes have been found to occur deep within the mantle of the Moon about
1,000 km below the surface. These occur with monthly periodicities and are related to tidal stresses
caused by the eccentric orbit of the Moon about the Earth. A few shallow moonquakes with
hypocenters located about 100 km below the surface have also been detected, but these occur more
infrequently and appear to be unrelated to the lunar tides.[3]

Contents

 1Core
 2See also
 3References
 4External links

Core[edit]

Schematic illustration of the internal structure of the Moon

Several lines of evidence imply that the lunar core is small, with a radius of about 350 km or
less.[3] The size of the lunar core is only about 20% the size of the Moon itself, in contrast to about
50% as is the case for most other terrestrial bodies. The composition of the lunar core is not well
constrained, but most believe that it is composed of metallic iron alloyed with a small amount
of sulfur and nickel. Analyses of the Moon's time-variable rotations indicate that the core is at least
partly molten.[4]
In 2010, a reanalysis of the old Apollo seismic data on the deep moonquakes using modern
processing methods confirmed that the Moon has an iron rich core with a radius of 330 ± 20 km. The
same reanalysis established that the solid inner core made of pure iron has the radius of 240 ± 10
km. The core is surrounded by the partially (10 to 30%) melted layer of the lower mantle with a
radius of 480 ± 20 km (thickness ~150 km). These results imply that 40% of the core by volume has
solidified. The density of the liquid outer core is about 5 g/cm3 and it could contain as much
6% sulfur by weight. The temperature in the core is probably about 1600–1700 K.[5]
Moon – Oceanus Procellarum ("Ocean of Storms")
Ancient rift valleys – rectangular structure (visible – topography – GRAIL gravity gradients) (October 1, 2014).

Ancient rift valleys – context.

Ancient rift valleys – closeup (artist's concept).

In 2019, a reanalysis of nearly 50 years of data collected from the Lunar Laser Ranging
experiment with lunar gravity field data from the GRAIL mission, shows that for a relaxed lunar fluid
core with non-hydrostatic lithospheres, the core flattening is determined as (2.2±0.6)×10−4 with the
radii of its core-mantle boundary as 381±12 km.[6]