A South Pole–Aitken impact origin of the lunar compositional asymmetry

• Published in: Science Advances
• Main Authors: Jones, Matt J., Evans, Alexander J., Johnson, Brandon C., Weller, Matthew B., Andrews-Hanna, Jeffrey C., Tikoo, Sonia M., Keane, James T.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) 2022
• Subjects: Aitken; South Pole; South pole
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.abm8475; https://www.science.org/doi/pdf/10.1126/sciadv.abm8475

The formation of the largest and most ancient lunar impact basin, South Pole–Aitken (SPA), was a defining event in the Moon’s evolution. Using numerical simulations, we show that widespread mantle heating from the SPA impact can catalyze the formation of the long-lived nearside-farside lunar asymmet...