Ages
The ages of the mare basalts have been determined both by direct physical dating and by the technique of crater counting. The radiometric ages range from about 3.16 to 4.2 Ga, whereas the youngest ages determined from crater counting are about 1.2 Ga (1 Ga = 1 billion years old). Nevertheless, the majority of mare basalts appear to have erupted between about 3 and 3.5 Ga. The few basaltic eruptions that occurred on the far side are old, whereas the youngest flows are found within Oceanus Procellarum on the nearside. While many of the basalts either erupted within, or flowed into, low lying impact basins, the largest expanse of volcanic units, Oceanus Procellarum, does not correspond to any known impact basin.
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