Mairan (crater)

Short description: Crater on the Moon

Mairan

Lunar Orbiter 4 image

Diameter| 40 km
Depth| 3.4 km
Colongitude| 44° at sunrise
Oblique view from Apollo 15

Mairan is a lunar impact crater that is located on a highland peninsula between Oceanus Procellarum to the west and Mare Imbrium to the east. To the north-northeast is the comparably sized crater Sharp. Northwest of Mairan is the heavily eroded Louville.

The outer rim of Mairan has not been significantly eroded or impacted, and retains a sharp edge. The surface around Mairan is rough and irregular, with a multitude of many tiny craters, particularly to the south and west. The inner walls display some terracing, and flow down to a relatively flat interior floor.

Mairan is a crater of Upper (Late) Imbrian age.[1]

## Contents

* 1 Mairan domes
* 2 Rima Mairan
* 3 Satellite craters
* 4 References

## Mairan domes

The volcanic complex, known as Mairan Hills or Mairan Domes, is composed of Mairan T together with three satellite domes (Mairan Northwest, Mairan Middle, and Mairan South). It was formed by two volcanic episodes 3.75±0.1 and 3.35±0.2 billion years ago, extruding a viscous silicic lava simultaneously with basalt eruptions in nearby mare. Most of volcanic complex, except for dome summits, is now buried under mare surface.[2]

In the mare, due west of Mairan, is a small lunar dome designated Mairan T with 3.8 km wide depression at the summit (in official IAU nomenclature "Mairan T" name refers only to the depression), believed to be a caldera[3] The width of hill is about 7 km, and height is about 800 m.[4] It is one of four unusually steep (with slopes reaching 22-27 degrees) and bright domes in area which are thought to be formed by very viscous, high-Si lava.[5]

The composition of domes is changing from the north to south, with Mairan Northwest composed of pyroxenes with 30% quartz admixture, while Mairan South dome composed of nearly pure quartz, with extremely high thorium concentration of 83±19 ppm.[6]

## Rima Mairan

There is a sinuous rille along the southwest edge of the highland peninsula containing Mairan. It is designated Rima Mairan, and follows a north–south course for a length of about 100 kilometers.

Oblique view of part of Rima Mairan, from Apollo 15

## Satellite craters

By convention these features are identified on lunar maps by placing the letter on the side of the crater midpoint that is closest to Mairan.

Mairan  | Latitude  | Longitude  | Diameter

|
|
|

A  | 38.6° N  | 38.8° W  | 16 km
C  | 38.6° N  | 46.0° W  | 7 km
D  | 40.9° N  | 45.4° W  | 10 km
E  | 37.8° N  | 37.2° W  | 6 km
F  | 40.3° N  | 45.1° W  | 9 km
G  | 40.9° N  | 50.8° W  | 6 km
H  | 39.3° N  | 40.0° W  | 5 km
K  | 40.8° N  | 41.0° W  | 6 km
L  | 39.0° N  | 43.2° W  | 6 km
N  | 39.2° N  | 45.5° W  | 6 km
T  | 41.7° N  | 48.3° W  | 3 km
Y  | 42.7° N  | 44.0° W  | 7 km

* Lunar dome Mairan T

* Mairan T from Apollo 15

## References

1. ↑ The geologic history of the Moon. USGS Professional Paper 1348. By Don E. Wilhelms, John F. McCauley, and Newell J. Trask. U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington: 1987. Table 11.2.
2. ↑ Geology of Mairan middle dome: Its implication to silicic volcanism on the Moon
3. ↑ "Mairan". Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. USGS Astrogeology Research Program.
4. ↑ Tran, T.; Robinson, M. S.; Lawrence, S. J.; Braden, S. E.; Plescia, J.; Hawke, B. R. et al. (March 2011). "Morphometry of Lunar Volcanic Domes from LROC". 42nd Lunar and Planetary Science Conference, Held March 7–11, 2011 at the Woodlands, Texas. LPI Contribution (1608 p.2228): 2228. Bibcode: 2011LPI....42.2228T. http://www.lpi.usra.edu/meetings/lpsc2011/pdf/2228.pdf.
5. ↑ Lena R.; Wöhler C.; Phillips J.; Chiocchetta M. T. (2013). Lunar Domes: Properties and Formation Processes. Springer Science & Business Media. pp. vii, 5–13, 35, 42. doi:10.1007/978-88-470-2637-7. ISBN 9788847026377. Bibcode: 2013ldpf.book.....L. https://books.google.com/books?id=6F5h39Azb1kC&q=Mairan&pg=PT10.
6. ↑ The Mairan domes: Silicic volcanic constructs on the Moon

* Andersson, L. E.; Whitaker, E. A. (1982). NASA Catalogue of Lunar Nomenclature. NASA RP-1097. http://planet4589.org/astro/lunar/RP-1097.pdf.
* Blue, Jennifer (July 25, 2007). "Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature". USGS. http://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/Feature/3597.
* Bussey, B.; Spudis, P. (2004). The Clementine Atlas of the Moon. New York: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-81528-4.
* Cocks, Elijah E.; Cocks, Josiah C. (1995). Who's Who on the Moon: A Biographical Dictionary of Lunar Nomenclature. Tudor Publishers. ISBN 978-0-936389-27-1. https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780936389271.
* McDowell, Jonathan (July 15, 2007). "Lunar Nomenclature". Jonathan's Space Report. http://host.planet4589.org/astro/lunar/.
* Menzel, D. H.; Minnaert, M.; Levin, B.; Dollfus, A.; Bell, B. (1971). "Report on Lunar Nomenclature by the Working Group of Commission 17 of the IAU". Space Science Reviews 12 (2): 136–186. doi:10.1007/BF00171763. Bibcode: 1971SSRv...12..136M.
* Moore, Patrick (2001). On the Moon. Sterling Publishing Co.. ISBN 978-0-304-35469-6. https://archive.org/details/patrickmooreonmo00patr.
* Price, Fred W. (1988). The Moon Observer's Handbook. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-33500-3.
* Rükl, Antonín (1990). Atlas of the Moon. Kalmbach Books. ISBN 978-0-913135-17-4.
* Webb, Rev. T. W. (1962). Celestial Objects for Common Telescopes (6th revised ed.). Dover. ISBN 978-0-486-20917-3. https://archive.org/details/celestialobjects00webb.
* Whitaker, Ewen A. (2003). Mapping and Naming the Moon. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-54414-6. https://books.google.com/books?id=aV1i27jDYL8C.
* Wlasuk, Peter T. (2000). Observing the Moon. Springer Science & Business Media. ISBN 978-1-852-33193-1. https://books.google.com/books?id=TWtLIOlPwS4C.

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