Figure 10-11: Iron on the Moon Images at different wavelengths from the Clementine spacecraft were used to make this map of the concentration of iron on the lunar surface. The areas of highest concentration (red) coincide closely with the maria on the near side (compare with Figure 10-7), confirming that the maria formed from iron-rich lavas. The lowest iron concentration (blue) is found in the lunar highlands. (No data were collected in the gray areas.) The large green region of intermediate iron concentration on the far side is the South Pole—Aitken Basin (see Figure 10-7). The impact that created this basin may have excavated all the way to the Moon’s mantle, in which iron is more abundant than in the crust.

(JSC/NASA)