Geology of the Moon the Moon. Lunar rocks are in large part made of the same common rock forming minerals as found on Earth, such as olivine, pyroxene, and plagioclase feldspar (anorthosite). Plagioclase feldspar is mostly found in the lunar crust, whereas pyroxene and olivine are typically seen in the lunar mantle. The mineral ilmenite is highly abundant in some mare basalts, and a new mineral named armalcolite (named for "Arm"strong, "Al"drin, and "Col"lins, the three members of the Apollo 11 crew) was first discovered in the lunar samples. The maria are composed predominantly of basalt, whereas the highland regions are iron-poor and composed
Aeromagnetic survey is a combination of the desired magnetic field generated in the Earth as well as tiny variations due to the temporal effects of the constantly varying solar wind and the magnetic field of the survey aircraft. By subtracting the solar, regional, and aircraft effects, the resulting aeromagnetic map shows the spatial distribution and relative abundance of magnetic minerals (most commonly the iron oxide mineral magnetite) in the upper levels of the Earth's crust. Because different rock types differ in their content of magnetic minerals, the magnetic map allows a visualization of the geological structure of the upper crust in the