Lacus Veris (Latinvēris, "Lake of Spring") is a smalllunar mare on theMoon. In selenographic coordinates, the mare centered at 16.5° S, 86.1° W and is approximately 396 km long.[1] The mare extends along an irregular 90° arc from east to north that is centered on theMare Orientale,[2] covering an area of about 12,000 km2.[3]AuthorEric Burgess proposed this mare as the location of a futurecrewed lunar base, citing a 1989 study performed at the NASAJohnson Space Center.[4][5]
This small, roughly crescent-shaped mare region lies between the ring-shaped Inner and Outer Rook mountains that form part of the Orientale impact basin. It lies in a topographic lowland about 1 km below the surrounding peaks.[6] Based on data collected during theLunar Orbiter missions and from Earth-based telescopes, the mare includes some material from the surrounding highlands.[7] The density of crater impacts indicates that this mare is an estimated 3.5 billion years old, and it finished forming roughly 340 million years after the impact that created the Oriental basin.[8]
The mare contains eleven sinuousrilles formed from lava tubes and channels, with lengths ranging from 4 to 51 km. Many of these rilles begin in the Rook mountains and flow to the base of the mountainousscarp. There are also severalshield volcano formations, each with a diameter of less than 10 km.[9] The geological formations and the lack of collapse depressions suggest that the mare was formed by thin lava flow through tubes, rather than through basalt flooding by fissure eruptions.[10]
^Brennan, W. J. (March 15–19, 1976). "Multiple ring structures and the problem of correlation between lunar basins [Proceedings, 7th Lunar Science Conference]".In: Lunar Science Conference.7. Houston, Texas: Pergamon Press, Inc:2833–2843.Bibcode:1976LPSC....7.2833B.
^Grego, Peter (2005).The moon and how to observe it. Birkhäuser. p. 189.ISBN1-85233-748-6.
^Oberst, J.; et al. (October 1996). "Photogrammetric analysis of clementine multi-look angle images obtained near mare orientale".Planetary and Space Science.44 (10):1123–1133.Bibcode:1996P&SS...44.1123O.doi:10.1016/S0032-0633(96)00060-8.
^Greeley, Ronald; et al. (1993). "Galileo Imaging Observations of Lunar Maria and Related Deposits".Journal of Geophysical Research.98 (E9):17183–17206.Bibcode:1993JGR....9817183G.doi:10.1029/93JE01000.
^Greeley, R. (March 15–19, 1976). "Modes of emplacement of basalt terrains and an analysis of mare volcanism in the Orientale Basin".Proceedings, 7th Lunar Science Conference. Houston, Texas: Pergamon Press, Inc (published April 1976). pp. 2747–2759.Bibcode:1976LPSC....7.2747G.
^Greeley, R. (March 1976). "Mare Emplacement in the Orientale Basin".Proceedings, Lunar and Planetary Science Conference. Vol. 7. pp. 334–335.Bibcode:1976LPI.....7..334G.
