SEES:7000 Colloquium - Thursday, 10/1/26, 3:30pm, 255 MacBride Hall

SEES:7000 Colloquium - Michael Sori, Purdue

Talk: "Igneous crusts on the Moon and Mars from gravity and topography"

Volcanic and other igneous rocks provide a window into a planet’s thermal history. Here, I will discuss how orbital geophysical measurements taken from NASA spacecraft give us insight into igneous crusts and the early geophysical history of the Moon and Mars. At the Moon, the extreme precision of gravity and topography data reveals abundant basalts that are extrusive but buried under impact ejecta and hidden from view. These volcanic deposits come from the earliest eruptions and represent a key observable to be met by lunar thermal evolution models. At Mars, the gravity data are not yet sufficiently precise to probe the entire crust, but crustal compositions can be inferred in some regions. Our favored model is consistent with moderately porous basalt for most of the crust, but invokes some compositional variability and felsic material in the Martian highlands. I will discuss how future geophysical spacecraft missions at the Moon and Mars can be used to advance our understanding of the crusts on both worlds.