EFFUSIVE LUNAR DOMES IN MARE TRANQUILLITATIS: MORPHOMETRY AND MODE OF
EMPLACEMENT. K. C. Pau1, R. Lena2, C. Wöhler3, M. T. Bregante4, G. Sbarufatti5 – Geologic Lunar Research
(GLR) Group. 1Flat 20A, Fook Chak House, Tung Fai Gardens, 17 Po Yan Street, Sheung Wan, Hong Kong;
kcpaulhk@yahoo.com.hk; 2Via Cartesio 144, sc. D, 00137 Rome, Italy; lena@glrgroup.org; 3Daimler Group
Research, P. O. Box 2360, D-89013 Ulm, Germany; christian.woehler@daimler.com; 4Via Antica Romana Occ. 13,
16039 Sestri Levante Genova, Italy; breterrimar@yahoo.it; 5Via Cabrini 10, 26842 Caselle Landi, Lodi, Italy;
elyx69@libero.it
Introduction: Lunar mare domes are smooth low
features with gentle convex upward profiles. They are
circular to elliptical in shape. Isolated domes may be
found in almost all maria, but significant concentra-
tions occur in the Hortensius region, Oceanus Procel-
larum, and Mare Tranquillitatis [1]. These domes are
commonly interpreted as shield volcanoes or laccoliths
[2]. Recent studies about lunar domes are based on the
evaluation of their spectrophotometric and morpho-
metric properties, rheologic parameters, and their clas-
sification based on the spectral properties and three-
dimensional shapes of the volcanic edifices [3,4,5]. In
this contribution we provide an analysis of three domes
located in Mare Tranquillitatis, which have previously
not been examined in detail.
General description: Mare Tranquillitatis is situ-
ated on the site of an ancient pre-Nectarian impact
basin [1]. The first examined dome is located inside the
crater Carrel (Jansen B) at longitude 27.08° E and lati-
tude 10.10° N (Figs. 1–4). It is a previously unreported
dome with a diameter of 8.6 km, which we named
Carrel 1 (Ca1). Lunar Orbiter imagery acquired under a
moderate solar elevation angle does not show the dome
clearly but a small positive relief on its flank is visible.
It likely represents a pre-existing small peak embayed
by the dome. A narrow ri