Before the mission of Lunar Prospector lunar satellite, it was commonly thought that these KREEP materials had been formed in a widespread layer beneath the crust. However, the measurements from the gamma-ray spectrometer on-board this satellite showed that the KREEP-containing rocks are primarily concentrated underneath the Oceanus Procellarum and the Mare Imbrium. This is a unique lunar geological province that is now known as the Procellarum KREEP Terrane.
Basins far from this province that dug deeply into the crust (and possibly the mantle), such as the Mare Crisium, the Mare Orientale, and the South Pole–Aitken basin, show only little or no enhancements of KREEP within their rims or ejecta. The enhancement of heat-producing radioactive elements within the crust (and/or the mantle) of the Procellarum KREEP Terrane is almost certainly responsible for the longevity and intensity of mare volcanism on the nearside of the Moon.