摘要
Indications of buried lunar bedrock may help us to understand the tectonic evolution of the Moon and provide some clues for formation of lunar regolith. So far, the information on distribution and burial depth of lunar bedrock is far from sufficient. Due to good penetration ability, microwave radiation can be a potential tool to ameliorate this problem. Here, a novel method to estimate the burial depth of lunar bedrock is presented using microwave data from Chang＇E-1 （CE-1） lunar satellite. The method is based on the spatial variation of differences in brightness temperatures between 19.35 GHz and 37.0 GHz （ATB）. Large differences are found in some regions, such as the southwest edge of Oceanus Procellarum, the area between Mare Tranquillitatis and Mare Nectaris, and the highland east of Mare Smythii. Interestingly, a large change of elevation is found in the corresponding region, which might imply a shallow burial depth of lunar bedrock. To verify this deduction, a theoretical model is derived to calculate the ATB. Results show that ATB varies from 12.7 K to 15 K when the burial depth of bedrock changes from 1 m to 0.5 m in the equatorial region. Based on the available data at low lunar latitude （30°N-30°S）, it is thus inferred that the southwest edge of Oceanus Procellarum, the area between Mare Tranquillitatis and Mare Nectaris, the highland located east of Mare Smythii, the edge of Pasteur and Chaplygin are the areas with shallow bedrock, the burial depth is estimated between 0.5 m and 1 m.
Indications of buried lunar bedrock may help us to understand the tectonic evolution of the Moon and provide some clues for formation of lunar regolith. So far, the information on distribution and burial depth of lunar bedrock is far from sufficient. Due to good penetration ability, microwave radiation can be a potential tool to ameliorate this problem. Here, a novel method to estimate the burial depth of lunar bedrock is presented using microwave data from Chang＇E-1 （CE-1） lunar satellite. The method is based on the spatial variation of differences in brightness temperatures between 19.35 GHz and 37.0 GHz （ATB）. Large differences are found in some regions, such as the southwest edge of Oceanus Procellarum, the area between Mare Tranquillitatis and Mare Nectaris, and the highland east of Mare Smythii. Interestingly, a large change of elevation is found in the corresponding region, which might imply a shallow burial depth of lunar bedrock. To verify this deduction, a theoretical model is derived to calculate the ATB. Results show that ATB varies from 12.7 K to 15 K when the burial depth of bedrock changes from 1 m to 0.5 m in the equatorial region. Based on the available data at low lunar latitude （30°N-30°S）, it is thus inferred that the southwest edge of Oceanus Procellarum, the area between Mare Tranquillitatis and Mare Nectaris, the highland located east of Mare Smythii, the edge of Pasteur and Chaplygin are the areas with shallow bedrock, the burial depth is estimated between 0.5 m and 1 m.
基金
This study was supported by West Light Foundation of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Knowledge Innovation Program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences （Lunar Program of Geochemical Institute）, and the National Natural Science Foundation of China （Grant Nos. 41373067 and 40803019）.
