Do you have any information on how Palus Somni formed, its composition, or age?

From williams@sol.ucolick.orgWed Jul 8 17:44:35 1998


> Do you have any information about how palus somni formed, what type of
> mineral it consists of, and how old the feature is?

Dear Mr. Evans,

I have precious little material at hand specifically about Palus Somni
(meaning Marsh of Sleep). Probably not much is known, as this area hasn't
been throroughly explored. According to the Atlas of the Solar System by
Moore and Hunt, Palus Somni is classified with the maria, meaning it is
probably made of various basalts. It labels Palus Somni as "distinctive"
and "curiously-coloured", which indicates it might have a different
composition than the nearby Mare Crisium and Mare Tranquillitatis (where
Apollo 11 landed).

More information (and much more thorough than my limited knowledge of
lunar geology) can be found at the web site for the Lunar Prospector, a
NASA probe currently exploring the moon:
http://lunar.arc.nasa.gov/index.html

I hope this helps, and sorry I couldn't give a better answer.

Sincerely,
Kurtis Williams


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