43rd Lunar and Planetary Science Conference (2012) 1749.pdf LOCALIZED PYROCLASTIC DEPOSITS IN THE GRIMALDI REGION OF THE MOON. B. Ray Hawke1, T.A. Giguere1,2, L.R. Gaddis3, O.Gustafson4, S.J. Lawrence5, J.D. Stopar5, C.A. Peterson1, J.F. Bell III5, M.S. Robinson5, and the LROC Science Team, 1Hawaii Institute of Geophysics and Planetology, University of Hawaii, Honolulu, HI 96822 (
[email protected]), 2Intergraph Corporation, Box 75330, Kapolei, HI 96707, 3U.S. Geological Survey, Astrogeology Science Center, Flagstaff, AZ 86001, 4Dept. Earth & Atmospheric Sciences, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853, 5School of Earth and Space Exploration, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85281. Introduction: In recent years, increasing attention has Results and Discussion: been devoted to lunar dark mantle deposits of pyroclastic Riccioli Pyroclastic Deposit. Riccioli is a pre-Orientale origin [e.g., 1-3]. These deposits provide important clues crater that is 146 km in diameter and located just NW of concerning the composition, distribution, and styles of em- Grimaldi. This floor-fractured crater is host to both mare and placement of the products of explosive volcanism on the pyroclastic material. A prominent endogenic dark-halo cra- Moon. Sample studies of volcanic gasses thought to be rep- ter complex just inside the west rim has previously been resentative of certain large pyroclastic deposits of regional described [9,10]. Figure 1 shows a mosaic of LROC NAC extent have provided important insights into the composition images superposed on a WAC image centered on the LDMD. of the lunar mantle as well as eruption mechanisms [e.g., The dark mantle deposit is ~10 km in diameter and is cen- 4,5].