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Full-Text Articles in Earth Sciences

From The Mantle To The Moon: Studies Of Kimberlitic Ilmenites, Meteorite Fusion-Crusts, And The Moscoviense Basin On The Moon, Kevin Glenn Thaisen May 2012

From The Mantle To The Moon: Studies Of Kimberlitic Ilmenites, Meteorite Fusion-Crusts, And The Moscoviense Basin On The Moon, Kevin Glenn Thaisen

Doctoral Dissertations

I have explored a variety of geologic problems in the course of the chapters contained within this dissertation. These include a study relating to the fusion crusts on meteorites, an impact basin of the Moon, and Siberian kimberlitic ilmenites. The first chapter explores two assumptions commonly employed in meteorite analysis; that fusion crust compositions represent the bulk-rock chemistry of the entire meteorite and that the vesicles within the fusion crust result from the release of implanted solar-wind volatiles. Neither of these assumptions was found to hold true in that study. The second chapter explores the unusual nature of the Moscoviense …


Characterization Of Thrust Faults On The Moon Using Fault Dynamics And 3d Visualizations, Jaclyn Danielle Clark Jan 2012

Characterization Of Thrust Faults On The Moon Using Fault Dynamics And 3d Visualizations, Jaclyn Danielle Clark

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Many small, lobate scarps, interpreted to be the surface traces of thrust faults, have been found all over Earth's moon by previous researchers. Fault dynamical calculations, assuming an initially completely molten Moon, have shown that these scarps can form due to compressional stresses that accumulate over time as the result of large-scale contraction of the Moon as it cooled. With high-resolution images from the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera (LROC), previously undetected lobate scarps can be found globally and viewed at high resolution. By investigating these fault scarps, we can determine better constraints on the amount of crustal shortening and improve …


Phreatomagmatic Activity On The Moon: Possibility Of Pseudocraters At Mare Frigoris, Jose Humberto Garcia Jan 2012

Phreatomagmatic Activity On The Moon: Possibility Of Pseudocraters At Mare Frigoris, Jose Humberto Garcia

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

The discovery of water on the Moon raises the possibility that lava-water, or phreatomagmatic, interactions have occurred on the lunar surface in the past. Such interactions may have formed pseudocraters, crater-like landforms that result from steam explosions that occur when lava flows come in contact with surface or near-surface water or ice. We present a study of Mare Frigoris, a volcanic plain just north of the Mare Imbrium impact basin on the Moon. Clusters of irregular, circular features on the basaltic lava flows in this area resemble pseudocrater fields in Iceland, and they are located in a region with inferred …