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Originally published in Science Express on 6 November 2008
Science 13 February 2009:
Vol. 323. no. 5916, pp. 905 - 908
DOI: 10.1126/science.1163382
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Reports

Long-Lived Volcanism on the Lunar Farside Revealed by SELENE Terrain Camera

Junichi Haruyama,1* Makiko Ohtake,1 Tsuneo Matsunaga,2 Tomokatsu Morota,1 Chikatoshi Honda,1 Yasuhiro Yokota,1 Masanao Abe,1 Yoshiko Ogawa,2 Hideaki Miyamoto,3 Akira Iwasaki,4 Carle M. Pieters,5 Noriaki Asada,6 Hirohide Demura,6 Naru Hirata,6 Junya Terazono,6 Sho Sasaki,7 Kazuto Saiki,8 Atsushi Yamaji,9 Masaya Torii,10 Jean-Luc Josset11

We determined model ages of mare deposits on the farside of the Moon on the basis of the crater frequency distributions in 10-meter-resolution images obtained by the Terrain Camera on SELENE (Selenological and Engineering Explorer) (Kaguya). Most mare volcanism that formed mare deposits on the lunar farside ceased at ~3.0 billion years ago, suggesting that mare volcanism on the Moon was markedly reduced globally during this period. However, several mare deposits at various locations on the lunar farside also show a much younger age, clustering at ~2.5 billion years ago. These young ages indicate that mare volcanism on the lunar farside lasted longer than was previously considered and may have occurred episodically.

1 Institute of Space and Astronautical Science, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, 3-1-1 Yoshino-dai, Sagamihara, Kanagawa 229-8510, Japan.
2 Center for Global Environmental Research, National Institute for Environmental Studies, 16-2 Onogawa, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8506, Japan.
3 University Museum, University of Tokyo, 7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-0033, Japan.
4 Department of Aerospace and Astronautics, University of Tokyo, 7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-8656, Japan.
5 Department of Geological Sciences, Brown University, Providence, RI 02912, USA.
6 University of Aizu, Ikki-machi, Aizu-wakamatsu, Fukushima 965-8580, Japan.
7 RISE Project Office, National Astronomical Observatory of Japan, 2-12 Hoshigaoka, Mizusawa, Oshu 023-0861, Japan.
8 Department of Earth and Space Science, Graduate School of Science, Osaka University, 1-1 Machikaneyama, Toyonaka 560-0043, Osaka, Japan.
9 Division of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Kyoto University, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto 606-8502, Japan.
10 Fujitsu, Chiba 261-8588, Japan.
11 Space Exploration Institute CP 774, CH-2002 Neuchatel, Switzerland.

* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: haruyama.junichi{at}jaxa.jp

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Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)