Abstract
Using data from the present gravitational potential and surface topography of the Moon, it is possible to determine a lower limit of about 5 b.y. for the relaxation time of the mascons. Assuming that the Moon has behaved as a Maxwellian viscoelastic body since the formation of the mascons, this relaxation time indicates a value of about 1027 poise for the viscosity of the lunar interior. Such a high viscosity implies that there has been no convection current inside the upper 800 km of the Moon since the formation of the mascons.
Article PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
Avoid common mistakes on your manuscript.
References
Arkani-Hamed, J.: 1973,The Moon,6 135–163.
Baldwin, R. B.: 1968a,Icarus 9, 401–404.
Baldwin, R. B.: 1968b,Science 162, 1407–1408.
Baldwin, R. B.: 1970,Icarus 13, 215–225.
Haskell, N. A.: 1936,Physics 7, 56.
Kopal, Z.: 1969,The Moon, D. Reidel Publ. Co., Dordrecht, Holland, pp. 203–204.
McKenzie, D. P.: 1967,Geophys. J. Roy. Astron. Soc. 14, 297–305.
Michael, W. H., Jr., Blackshear, W. T., and Gapcynski, J. P.: 1969, ‘Results of the Mass and the Gravitational Field of the Moon as Determined From Dynamics of Lunar Satellites’, presented at the 12th Plenary Meeting of COSPAR, Prague.
Runcorn, S. K.: 1967,Roy. Soc. London Proc. A 296, 270–284.
Scott, R. F.: 1967,Icarus 7, 139–148.
Turcotte, D. L. and Oxburgh, E. R.: 1969,Nature 223, 250–251.
Urey, H. C.: 1968,Science 162, 1408–1410.
Wetherill, G. W.: 1971Science 173, 383–392.
Wollenhaupt, W. R., Osburn, R. K., and Ransford, G. A.: 1972, ‘Comments on the Figure of the Moon from Apollo Landmark Tracking’,The Moon 5, 149–157.
Wollenhaupt, W. R. and Sjogren, W. L.: 1972, ‘Comments on the Figure of the Moon Based on Preliminary Results from Laser Altimetry’,The Moon 4, 337–347.
Wood, J. A., Dickey, J. S., Jr., Marvin, U. B., and Powell, B. N.: 1970,Proceedings of the Apollo 11 Lunar Science Conference 1, 965–988.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Additional information
Lunar Science Institute Contribution No. 99.
The research in this paper was done while the author was a Visiting Scientist at the Lunar Science Institute, which is operated by the Universities Space Research Association under Contract No. NSR 09-051-001 with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Arkani-Hamed, J. Viscosity of the moon. The Moon 6, 100–111 (1973). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02630655
Received:
Revised:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02630655