Surface Geology
Main articles: Geology of the Moon and Moon rocks See also: Topography of the Moon and List of features on the Moon Far side of the Moon. Note the almost complete lack of dark maria.The topography of the Moon has been measured with laser altimetry and stereo image analysis. The most visible topographic feature is the giant far side South Pole – Aitken basin, some 2,240 km in diameter, the largest crater on the Moon and the largest known crater in the Solar System. At 13 km deep, its floor is the lowest elevation on the Moon. The highest elevations are found just to its north-east, and it has been suggested that this area might have been thickened by the oblique formation impact of South Pole – Aitken. Other large impact basins, such as Imbrium, Serenitatis, Crisium, Smythii, and Orientale, also possess regionally low elevations and elevated rims. The lunar far side is on average about 1.9 km higher than the near side.
Read more about this topic: Himanshu, Physical Characteristics
Famous quotes containing the word surface:
“All the aspects of this desert are beautiful, whether you behold it in fair weather or foul, or when the sun is just breaking out after a storm, and shining on its moist surface in the distance, it is so white, and pure, and level, and each slight inequality and track is so distinctly revealed; and when your eyes slide off this, they fall on the ocean.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)