mare
1
9.9
- noun
- /mɛr/
- Specialized
:
mar lunar
- I love a more contrasty look on the Moon, highlighting the differences between the mare and the highlands.
- mare basalt
Examples
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Astronomers study the mare to understand the Moon's geological history.
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Geochemists noted that some chemical characteristics of mare basalt lavas were complementary to the chemistry of highland anorthosites.
Academic text (2003) -
Sometimes the connection will emerge if I hike on the mare outside Luna City.
Fiction book (1997) -
I took a hopper over Mare Crisium from Luna City to the High Command complex buried under the mountains on the north end of the mare.
Fiction book (1997) -
Kraken Mare is thought to be a methane sea and Barlette is composed of dark coloured sand dunes.
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Taken together, this line of thinking had an astonishing implication: because the mare basalts formed at depths of hundreds of miles, the magma ocean must have been hundreds of miles deep.
Academic text (2003) -
For example, the mare basalts were depleted in aluminum and europium, whereas the anorthosites were loaded with aluminum and enriched in europium.
Academic text (2003) -
The photographs of the Moon showed a vast mare created by ancient volcanic activity.
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During the lunar mission, scientists collected samples from the mare to analyze the basaltic rock composition.
Synonyms
Large dark flat plains on the Moon that formed when lava flowed long ago
Compounds
- Jargon
A wrestling move that throws an opponent over your shoulder with a quick twist
Surface Forms
Etymology
Mare for the dark plains on the Moon comes from the Latin mare meaning 'sea'. Early observers thought those dark areas were seas, so we still call them 'seas' on the Moon even though they are not water.