Geological Society of America

T108 Exploring the Solar System in the Thermal Infrared II: A Memorial Session in Remembrance of Joshua L. Bandfield

Monday, 11 October 2021
1:30 PM - 5:30 PM
Portland Ballroom 256 (Hybrid Room)

USING THERMAL INFRARED OBSERVATIONS TO CHARACTERIZE THE THERMOPHYSICAL AND COMPOSITIONAL PROPERTIES OF THE LACUS MORTIS REGION OF THE MOON

Paper number: T108-11
Program: Technical Sessions
Time: 4:00 PM – 4:15 PM

Authors

Jean-Pierre Williams Presenting Author
University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA
David T. Blewett
Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, Laurel, MD
Patrick Russell
UCLA, Los Angeles, CA
Paul O. Hayne
University of Colorado, Boulder, Boulder, CO
Mark T. Sullivan
University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA
Benjamin T. Greenhagen
Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory, Laurel, MD
Kristen A. Bennett
US Geological Survey, Flagstaff, AZ
David Paige
University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA
Nandita Kumari
Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY
Caitlin J. Ahrens
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD
Lior Rubanenko
Stanford University, Stanford, CA
Tyler Powell
University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA
Parvathy Prem
Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, Laurel, MD

Abstract

Thermal infrared emission observations by the Diviner Lunar Radiometer Experiment on the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter have provided valuable information on the compositional and thermophysical properties of the lunar surface [e.g. 1,2,3,4]. We have compiled over 11 years of Diviner data into a comprehensive dataset of the Lacus Mortis region which includes the landing ellipse of the Astrobotic Mission One lander mission. Using this dataset we identify several features that display distinct variations in compositional, radiative, and thermophysical properties in the Lacus Mortis region. We identify contrasting properties of materials in the walls of Bürg crater, hummocks of materials on the southeast margin of the mare basalts, and materials exposed or excavated by impacts. Additionally we find an exceptionally rocky fault scarp that predates the formation of Bürg crater suggesting the observed boulders are replenished on a timescale < 1 Ga. Within the Astrobotic landing ellipse, temperatures are observed to range from ~88 K to ~359 K with sunrise and sunset local times constrained to 5.85 – 6.25 hr and 17.85 and 18.05 hr respectively.

[1] Bandfield et al. (2011) JGR: Planets, 116. [2] Greenhagen et al. (2010) Science 329, 1507. [3] Glotch et al. (2010) Science 329, 1510. [4] Hayne et al. (2017) JGR: Planets 122, 2371-2400.

Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs. Vol. 53, No. 6

doi: 10.1130/abs/2021AM-369941

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