Morphological and mineralogical characterization of the Freundlich-Sharonov Basin: Implications for the lunar farside magmatism

Abstract

Volcanism on the Moon is highly asymmetric, with the nearside having extensive mare emplacements and the farside exhibiting only sparse, localized volcanism. The Freundlich-Sharonov Basin (FS Basin), a preNectarian/Nectarian impact basin located on the central farside of the Moon (18.35N, 175.2E), hosts a limited volume of spatially restricted and isolated volcanic patches, which provide an ideal geological setting to investigate controls on the lunar magmatism in a thick, KREEP poor farside crust. In this study, detailed geological characterization of the FS Basin is provided for the first time, incorporating insights from morphological, chronological, and compositional analyses using high resolution datasets from missions such as Chandrayaan1 (Moon Mineralogy Mapper), Kaguya, and Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter. The results of this study reveal a previously undetected ~192 km diameter inner depression ring, along with spatially aligned subsurface magmatic intrusions, and exposures of PAN and orthopyroxenes along the basin rings. Compositional analyses indicate that the FS Basin experienced at least two volcanic eruptions dominated by exceptionally high-alumina basalts (~16 to 24 wt% Al2O3) around ~3.4 Ga and ~2.1 Ga. This is the highest reported alumina content in the lunar maria, also expanding the period of known high alumina volcanism on the Moon to the late phase. We propose that the limited extent of volcanic eruptions in the FS Basin is a result of the combined effects of composition-dependent magma buoyancy, reduced magma production, and impact modified crustal structures determining the magma extrusion sites.