Present-day thermal state of the Moon from global geodynamic modeling

The asymmetric distribution of radiogenic material in the lunar interior has been proposed as a key factor in explaining the Moon’s hemispheric asymmetry, namely the striking differences between its near and far sides. We use a 3D geodynamic model of the Moon’s thermal evolution to test this hypothesis and we find that a symmetric interior structure is difficult to reconcile with available observations. In particular, we use heat-flow measurements from the Apollo era, together with recent data from the CLPS Blue Ghost-1 mission, to identify the most likely scenarios for the Moon’s present-day interior temperature distribution.

Visio: https://visio.numerique.gouv.fr/owk-pims-txt