Lunar Maria: Volcanic Basins on the Moon

What are the dark spots on the moon?
One of the main things you notice on the moon is that it has bright and dark areas across the surface.
Everybody’s familiar with the man on the moon, right?

The dark areas are known as “mare” (or maria) which is the Latin word for “seas”. They’re called maria because early scientists believed they could see oceans on the moon. But the dark stretches on the surface of the moon were not oceans at all.
What the “maria” actually turned out to be were volcanic basins. They were created in the aftermath of ancient impacts billions of years ago. After the impacts, the craters filled with lava. Eventually, the lava cooled. These flat flood basalts formed smooth lunar maria.

The Sea of Tranquility Maria
One of the most famous maria is the Sea of Tranquility.
This was the landing site chosen by Apollo-11 in part because it was fairly smooth and level.

Apollo-11 is world renowned because it gave mankind its first-ever walk on the moon.
Not only for a landing site, but it also made an easy trek for Neil Armstrong.

What Is a Lunar Maria?
Volcanic basins (Lunar Maria) are found on the Moon. This is because ancient volcanic eruptions were the driving force behind them on the moon.
If you are interested in learning more about the moon and outer space, here are some online courses offered by universities around the world.
Please use the comment form below to get in touch with us if you have any questions about Lunar Maria.
Solar Radiation: How Sunlight Heats the Planet
Earth Rotation: The Day-Night Boundary
Density of Earth: What is the Earth Made Of?
How to Measure the Distance to the Moon
How Gravity Sculpted the Earth
What Are the 3 Types of Galaxies?
How Fast Does the Earth Spin? Earth vs The Engineered
5 Facts About the Sun [Infographic]
Sun Fusion: How the Sun Heats Up Earth
Alpha Centauri (Rigil Kentaurus): Our Sun’s Closest Neighbor
Moon Gravity: Your Weight on the Moon
10 Planet Venus Facts [Infographic]
7 Planet Saturn Facts: Beyond its Signature Rings [Infographic]
The 17 Spheres of Earth