THE ORIGIN AND GEOLOGICAL SIGNIFICANCE OF LUNAR RIDGES

Abstract

Lunar ridges are a kind of familiar linear structures developed on the lunar surface. The distribution pattern, formation mechanism and research significance of lunar ridges are discussed in this paper. Single lunar ridges are usually distributed in the form of broken lineation, and, as whole, lunar ridges are trapezoidal or annular in shape around the maria. As to the formation mechanism, only volcanism or tectonism was emphasized in the past, but the two processes are seldom taken into combined consideration. On the basis of detailed analyses, the authors thought that tectonism is a prerequisite for the formation of lunar ridges, while volcanism is the key factor controlling their particular shapes. Finally, the authors pointed out that it is very significant in the study of lunar ridges to link the course of lunar structure evolution with the stress state in the lunar crust.