Template:POTD/2023-02-04
The geology of the Moon is quite different from that of the Earth. The Moon lacks a true atmosphere, and the absence of oxygen and water eliminates erosion due to weather. Instead, the surface is eroded much more slowly through bombardment of the lunar surface by micrometeorites. It lacks any known form of plate tectonics, has a lower gravitational acceleration, and cooled faster after its formation because of its small size. In addition to impacts, the geomorphology of the lunar surface has been shaped by volcanism, which is now thought to have ended less than 50 million years ago. The Moon is a differentiated body, with a crust, mantle, and core. This global geologic map of the Moon was published by Chinese planetary geologists in 2022 at a scale of 1 to 2.5 million at full resolution. Colours are used to indicate different stratigraphic units corresponding to various periods of the lunar geologic timescale, with structural features and Moon landing sites also marked. The main map uses the Mollweide projection. Two insets are provided for the northern and southern polar areas, as well as two smaller maps illustrating the lithology and tectonic units of the lunar surface.Map credit: Jinzhu Ji et al.