Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in
Book cover

Encyclopedia of Lunar Science pp 1–8Cite as

Lunar Magnetic Anomalies

Lunar magnetic anomalies are locally strong magnetic fields near the Moon caused by permanently magnetized material in its upper crust. They have scale sizes of up to hundreds of kilometers and were first detected by magnetometers on the Apollo 15 and 16 subsatellites in 1971 and 1972 (Coleman et al. 1972). Some of these anomalies probably have surface fields as strong as several thousand nanoTeslas (nT) but fields at orbital altitudes are typically no more than 5 or 10 nT. Major applications of lunar magnetic anomalies include investigating: (a) the existence and history of a former lunar core dynamo; (b) the magnetic effects of large-scale impacts on the Moon; and (c) the role of the solar wind ion bombardment in producing space weathering or optical maturation (darkening with time) of airless silicate bodies in the solar system. Most recently, lunar magnetic anomalies have been mapped using magnetometer data from the Lunar Prospector and Kaguya (SELENE) orbital missions in...

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.

References

  • Blewett D, Coman I, Hawke B, Gillis-Davis J, Purucker M, Hughes C (2011) Lunar swirls: examining crustal magnetic anomalies and space weathering trends. J Geophys Res 116, E02002. doi:10.1029/2010JE003656

    ADS  Google Scholar 

  • Coleman P Jr, Schubert G, Russell C, Sharp L (1972) Satellite measurements of the Moon’s magnetic field. Moon 4:419–429

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  • Cournède C, Gattacceca J, Rochette P (2012) Magnetic study of large Apollo samples: possible evidence for an ancient centered dipolar field on the Moon. Earth Planet Sci Lett 331–332:31–42

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dalrymple G, Ryder G (1996) Argon-40/Argon-39 age spectra of Apollo 17 highlands breccia samples by laser step heating and the age of the Serenitatis basin. J Geophys Res 101:26069–26084

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  • Dyal P, Parkin C, Daily W (1974) Magnetism and the interior of the Moon. Rev Geophys Space Phys 12:568–591

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  • Fischer-Gödde M, Becker H (2011) What is the age of the Nectaris basin? New Re-Os constraints for a pre-4.0 Ga bombardment history of the Moon. Lunar Planet Sci Conf XLII, Abstract 1414. Lunar and Planetary Institute, Houston

    Google Scholar 

  • Fuller M, Cisowski S (1987) Lunar paleomagnetism. In: Jacobs J (ed) Geomagnetism, vol 2. Academic, Orlando, pp 307–456

    Google Scholar 

  • Garrick-Bethell I, Head J III, Pieters C (2011) Spectral properties, magnetic fields, and dust transport at lunar swirls. Icarus 212:480–492

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  • Gattacceca J, Boustie M, Hood L et al (2010) Can the lunar crust be magnetized by shock: experimental groundtruth. Earth Planet Sci Lett 299:42–53

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  • Glotch T, Bandfield J, Lucey P, Hayne P et al (2014) Formation of lunar swirls by magnetic field standoff of the solar wind. Nature Communications (in review)

    Google Scholar 

  • Halekas J, Mitchell D, Lin R, Hood L et al (2001) Mapping of lunar crustal magnetic fields using Lunar Prospector electron reflectometer data. J Geophys Res 106:27841–27852

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  • Halekas J, Lin R, Mitchell D (2003) Magnetic fields of lunar multi-ring impact basins. Meteorit Planet Sci 38:565–578

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  • Hemingway D, Garrick-Bethell I (2012) Magnetic field direction and lunar swirl morphology: insights from Airy and Reiner Gamma. J Geophys Res 117, E10012. doi:10.1029/2012JE004165

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  • Hood L (1987) Magnetic field and remanent magnetization effects of basin-forming impacts on the Moon. Geophys Res Lett 14:844–847

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  • Hood L (2011) Central magnetic anomalies of Nectarian-aged lunar impact basins: probable evidence for an early core dynamo. Icarus 211:1109–1128

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  • Hood L, Artemieva N (2008) Antipodal effects of lunar basin-forming impacts: initial 3D simulations and comparisons with observations. Icarus 193:485–502

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  • Hood L, Schubert G (1980) Lunar magnetic anomalies and surface optical properties. Science 208:49–51

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  • Hood L, Vickery A (1984) Generation of transient magnetic fields in hypervelocity meteoroid impacts with application to lunar paleomagnetism. J Geophys Res 89:C211–C223

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hood L, Coleman P Jr, Russell C, Wilhelms D (1979) Lunar magnetic anomalies detected by the Apollo subsatellite magnetometers. Phys Earth Planet In 20:291–311

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  • Hood L, Zakharian A, Halekas J et al (2001) Initial mapping and interpretation of lunar crustal magnetic anomalies using Lunar Prospector magnetometer data. J Geophys Res 106:27825–27839

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  • Hood L, Tsunakawa H, Spudis P (2014) Central magnetic anomalies in old lunar impact basins: new constraints on the earliest history of the former core dynamo. Lunar Planet Sci XLV, Abstract 1482. Lunar and Planetary Institute, Houston

    Google Scholar 

  • Kramer G, Besse S, Dhingra D et al (2011) M3 spectral analysis of lunar swirls and the link between optical maturation and surface hydroxyl formation at magnetic anomalies. J Geophys Res 116, E00G18. doi:10.1029/2010JE003729

    Google Scholar 

  • Lin RP, Anderson KA, Hood L (1988) Lunar surface magnetic field concentrations antipodal to young large impact basins. Icarus 74:529–541

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  • Mitchell D, Halekas J, Lin R, Frey S et al (2008) Global mapping of lunar crustal magnetic fields by Lunar Prospector. Icarus 194:401–409

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  • Neish CD, Blewett DT, Bussey DBJ, Lawrence SJ, Mechtley M, Thomson BJ (2011) The surficial nature of lunar swirls as revealed by the Mini-RF instrument. Icarus 215:186–196.

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  • Purucker M, Nicholas J (2010) Global spherical harmonic models of the internal magnetic field of the Moon based on sequential and coestimation approaches. J Geophys Res 115, E12007. doi:10.1029/2010JE003650

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  • Purucker M, Head J III, Wilson L (2012) Magnetic signature of the lunar South Pole-Aitken basin: character, origin, and age. J Geophys Res 117, E05001. doi:10.1029/2011JE003922

    ADS  Google Scholar 

  • Richmond N, Hood L (2008) A preliminary global map of the vector lunar crustal magnetic field based on Lunar Prospector magnetometer data. J Geophys Res 113, E02010. doi:10.1029/2007JE002933

    ADS  Google Scholar 

  • Richmond N, Hood L, Halekas J et al (2003) Correlation of a strong lunar magnetic anomaly with a high albedo region of the Descartes mountains. Geophys Res Lett 30(7):1395. doi:10.1029/2003GL016938

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  • Ryder G (2002) Mass flux in the ancient Earth-Moon system and benign implications for the origin of life on Earth. J Geophys Res Planets 107, E45022, doi:10.1029/ 2001JE001583

    ADS  Google Scholar 

  • Schultz P, Srnka L (1980) Cometary collisions on the Moon and Mercury. Nature 284:22–26

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  • Shea E, Weiss B, Cassata W et al (2012) A long-lived lunar core dynamo. Science 335:453–456

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  • Starukhina I, Shkuratov Y (2004) Swirls on the Moon and Mercury: meteoroid swarm encounters as a formation mechanism. Icarus 167:136–147

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  • Strangway D, Sharpe H, Gose W et al (1973) Lunar magnetic anomalies and the Cayley Formation. Nature 246:112–114

    ADS  Google Scholar 

  • Suavet C, Weiss B, Cassata W et al (2013) Persistence and origin of the lunar core dynamo. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 110:8453–8458

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  • Tikoo SM, Weiss BP, Cassata WS, Shuster DL, Gattacceca J, Lima EA, Suavet C, Nimmo F, Fuller MD (2014) Decline of the lunar core dynamo. Earth Planet Sci Lett 404:89–97

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  • Tsunakawa H, Shibuya H, Takahashi F et al (2010) Lunar magnetic field observation and initial global mapping of lunar magnetic anomalies by MAP-LMAG onboard SELENE (Kaguya). Space Sci Rev 154:219–251

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  • Wieczorek M, Weiss B, Stewart S (2012) An impactor origin for lunar magnetic anomalies. Science 335:1212–1215

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  • Wilhelms D (1984) Moon. In: Carr M (ed) The geology of the terrestrial planets. NASA Science and Technology Information Branch, Washington, DC, pp 107–205

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Lunar and Planetary Laboratory, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona, USA

    Lon L. Hood

Authors
  1. Lon L. Hood
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Lon L. Hood .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Prairie View A&M University, Houston, Texas, USA

    Brian Cudnik

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2014 Springer International Publishing Switzerland

About this entry

Cite this entry

Hood, L.L. (2014). Lunar Magnetic Anomalies. In: Cudnik, B. (eds) Encyclopedia of Lunar Science. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-05546-6_4-1

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-05546-6_4-1

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-05546-6

  • eBook Packages: Springer Reference Physics and AstronomyReference Module Physical and Materials ScienceReference Module Chemistry, Materials and Physics

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Chapter history

  1. Latest

    Lunar Magnetic Anomalies
    Published:
    24 November 2021

    DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-05546-6_4-3

  2. Lunar Magnetic Anomalies
    Published:
    16 March 2015

    DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-05546-6_4-2

  3. Original

    Lunar Magnetic Anomalies
    Published:
    19 November 2014

    DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-05546-6_4-1

Search

Navigation