Geophysics Seminar - Ian Garrick-Bethell, "Compositional layering in the lunar farside mantle"

Speaker: Prof. Ian Garrick-Bethell
Professor of Planetary Sciences, University of California, Santa Cruz

Abstract:
Direct geophysical constraints on the Moon’s interior chemistry and thermal evolution are limited to nearside measurements. Using the Korea Pathfinder Lunar Orbiter’s magnetometer, we perform the first electromagnetic sounding of the lunar farside interior. We identify a high electrical conductivity layer near the top of the mantle that indicates the preservation of dense, late-stage magma ocean products enriched in iron, titanium, and water.

Orbital electromagnetic measurements performed at global scales with high precision have the potential to revolutionize our understanding of the lunar interior.

Speaker-suggested reading: Dyal, P., Parkin, C.W., and Daily, W.D., 1976, Structure of the lunar interior from magnetic field measurements: Lunar and Planetary Science Conference Proceedings, v. 3, p. 3077–3095