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Thermal History of the Moon

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Abstract

I HAVE already used1 the creep behaviour of the mascons in my model of their origin and morphology2 to set limits on the internal temperature of the Moon at present, former and primordial epochs. Results for the present are consistent with the upper limit obtained by Ness3 from the electrical conductivity of the Moon implied by magnetometry in space. The purpose of this article is to use the approximation to the central temperature set by the result of Ness in order to correct previous solutions4–7 of the heat-conduction equation, to infer possible thermal histories consistent with the present thermal regime.

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Author notes

  1. J. J. GILVARRY

    Present address: The Rand Corporation, Santa Monica, California

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Space Science Laboratory, General Dynamics/Astronautics, San Diego, California

    J. J. GILVARRY

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  1. J. J. GILVARRY
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GILVARRY, J. Thermal History of the Moon. Nature 225, 623–625 (1970). https://doi.org/10.1038/225623a0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/225623a0

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