For nearly forty
years lunar scientists have searched in vain for some formulation giving the
unique ring spacing of the multi-ringed maria. Yet, all this time, the long
sought formulation was published as a single line in a 1968 paper.
In that
paper it has been shown that the theory for explosion–generated water waves
provided a perfect fit to the five mountain rings of the lunar Mare Orientale,
subject to the constraint that the waves propagated over a 50 km rigid
substrate, and solidified abruptly after an hour. In a second paper, it has
been demonstrated that the same formulations fit the rings of some sixteen
other maria, suggesting that a 50 km mantle layer overlying a denser substrate
was a universal property of the early moon. This layer is now recognized as the
lunar Moho. Following the Apollo landings, my papers remained virtually
unnoticed. Read more>>>>>>>>>>
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