Difference between revisions of "Lunar Regolith"

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{{Stub}}<BR/>[[Image:658px-Moon_Comp_Graph.JPG|thumb|Relative Concentration Of Various Elements On The Lunar Surface]]
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The layer of debris which blankets most of the moon is commonly refered to as [[Lunar Regolith | regolith]]. The portion of the regolith of a size less than 1 cm is generally referred to as '''lunar soil'''.
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[[Image:800px-Moon_VS_Earth_Composition.JPG|thumb|Relative Concentration (in weight ppm) of Various Elements on Lunar Highlands, Lunar Lowlands, and Earth]]
 
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The layer of debris which blankets most of the moon is commonly refered to as regolith. Billions of years of bombardment from space has created a highly comminuted (this means it has been broken into ever smaller grains and particles) surface through a process sometimes referered to as "impact gardening" or "space weathering."  It is estimated that the regolith varies in thickness from 3 to 5 meters over the younger "maria" to approximatly 10 to 20 meters thick in the older "highlands."  Below the impact regolith is a layer of "mega-regolith" consisting of highly fractered bedrock that is tens of kilometers thick.
 
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The portion of the regolith of a size less than 1cm is generally referred to as [[Lunar Soil]], and the dusty, abrasive portion is referred to as [[Lunar Dust]] or "Fines."
 
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Lunar regolith is the focus of many proposed methods of  [[LUNOX | oxygen production]] and [[In Situ Resource Utilization | in-situ resource utilization]] including:
 
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*[[Ilmenite Reduction]]
 
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*[[Glass Reduction]]
 
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*[[Radiation shielding]]
 
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*[[Volatile scavenging]]
 
  
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The term "lunar soil" should not be confused with terrestrial use of the word ''soil'', and no implication of organic content is intended.
  
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==Links==
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[[Lunar Regolith]]
  
 
==External Links==
 
==External Links==
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[[Category:Selenology]]
 
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Revision as of 11:25, 16 January 2007

The layer of debris which blankets most of the moon is commonly refered to as regolith. The portion of the regolith of a size less than 1 cm is generally referred to as lunar soil.

The term "lunar soil" should not be confused with terrestrial use of the word soil, and no implication of organic content is intended.

Links

Lunar Regolith

External Links


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