Origin of the Moon and Its Topography Author(S): Reginald A
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Origin of the Moon and Its Topography Author(s): Reginald A. Daly Source: Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society, Vol. 90, No. 2 (May, 1946), pp. 104- 119 Published by: American Philosophical Society Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3301051 . Accessed: 10/02/2015 13:17 Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at . http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp . JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected]. American Philosophical Society is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society. http://www.jstor.org This content downloaded from 128.103.149.52 on Tue, 10 Feb 2015 13:17:40 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions ORIGIN OF THE MOON AND ITS TOPOGRAPHY REGINALD A. DALY Professorof Geology, Emeritus, Harvard University CONTENTS earth's relief-a theory implying mechanical Page contrastbetween a strongcrust (the lithosphere) Introduction................... 104 and an immediatelyunderlying weak layer or Published ideas of "ultimate" origin.............. 105 Internal incentive to fission.107 shell (asthenosphere); (4) theoriesof mountain- External incentive to fission.108 building; (5) the theoryof the sealevel figureof Earth-fragmenthypothesis .... 109 the earth; and (6) the existence of continents Lunar topograph .111 standing shouldler-highabove the floor of the Summarv. ..................... 118 Acknowledgments........... 119 deep ocean? References........... 119 Fruitful comparison of planet and satellite has been greatly broadened and deepened by The purpose and scope of this paper are indicated in the two recentdevelopments: geophysics on the one summaryat the end. hand and adequate photographic and other INTRODUCTION instrumentalstudy of the lunar surface on the other. Some selenographers claim that the is GEOLOGY,a study of planetary evolution, visible 59 per cent of the moon's surfaceis better of this compara- itselfin evolution; the plunge mapped than the earth's surface as a whole. unknown has tively young science into the We now know of startling contrasts of topo- truth,but brought many pearls of ascertained graphic formin the two bodies-of remarkably at least for every major principle established few similaritiesamong the details. Since Gali- out. one new major problem has cropped leo's day manv astronomershave been unduly learned and Even new techniques have to be stressing similarityof topographic forms and is found applied. An outstanding!illustration similarityof genesis of those forms. A large amount and in the attempt to determine the numberof astronomersas well as some geologists distributionof the earth's internalenergy, par- have regardedmost of the 30,000 visible pits on ticularlythe heat. This fundamentalquestion the lunar surfaceas volcanic vents whose energy into is forcingstudents of geological dynamics residedin the heat and gas of the interior. Pub- role the field of cosmogony. Whatever be the lished in 1895, the classic paper by Grove Karl it is that the of radioactivity in rocks, clear Gilbert,one of the keenest observersand most must be valued. importance of primitiveheat logical thinkerswho have worked in earth sci- every of Where there is so much darkness ray ence, contained a powerful argument for the with sure instinct light is welcome, and it was very differentimpact or bombardmenttheory Chrowder that Eduard Suess and Thomas ofthe lunarpits, which nevertheless will probably Chamberlina half-centuryago sought new light longcontinue to bear theunlucky name i'craters." earth fromcosmogony and fromcomparison of Thus today selenographersare divided into and moon. These mastersand others,later on, two groups. One emphasizes internal influ- what have been asking a multiple question: ences as shaping the rugged moon; the other the moon's to relation have theories of origin emphasizes externalinfluences. This difference terrestrial problems concerning: (1) volcanism, of judgment-is likely to persist until the origin differentiation igneous action in general; (2) the of both earth and moon has been finallyestab- of sialic and simatic shells of the outer earth;' lished. No thoroughlysatisfactory theory of in of the (3) the theorv of isostasy explanation those beginningsand of the solar systemin gen- I "Sial" is mnemonic for rock or rock-melt which is eral is yet in sight. However,some astronomers relatively rich in silica and alumina (plus alkalies). and geophysicists have most satisfaction in "Sima" is mnemonic for rock or rock-meltwhich is rela- assumingan initiallygaseous state forthe earth, no alkali). tively rich in silica and magnesia (with little or idea seems to furnishthe best basis for Sialic material, typified by granite, is less dense than and this simatic material,typified by basalt or peridotite. thoughtabout the evolution of the earth-moon PROCEEDINGS OF THE AMIERICAN PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIETY, VOL. 90. NO. 2, MiAY, 1946 104 This content downloaded from 128.103.149.52 on Tue, 10 Feb 2015 13:17:40 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions ORIGIN OF THE MOON AND ITS TOPOGRAPHY 105 system. The presentpaper is chieflyconcerned problem, it does not preclude a gaseous state with the hypothesis that some or all of the for a planet which was formedby the collision moon's material was torn out of the young of two large masses segregatedin the nebula. earth. New variants of the fission theory as A morecomplete listing of the many published well as a capture hypothesisare to be described cosmogonicschemes is not needed to enforcethe and then tested by the facts known about the conclusionthat, according to the more stalwart composition, density, topography, and other of these hypotheses,each of the existingplanets characteristicsof our satellite. was initiallyhot enough to be gaseous. At any rate let us make this assumption,thus cutting PUBLISHED IDEAS OF "ULTIMATE" ORIGIN the Gordian knot of uncertainties,and thenwith What was the earth like at its birth? No at- that assumptiontrace the evolutionof the earth- temptwill here be made to canvass all the possi- moon systemin a speculativeway. bilities suggestedby studentsof this controver- Because of radiativeand adiabatic cooling the sial subject, but a briefword about the latest smaller planets condensed to liquid, rotating ideas is not out of place. globes, each, throughrapid molecularflight into Since the beginningof the present century space, having been reduced to a mass much cosmogonistshave taken seriouslythe specula- smaller than it had when in the initial,gaseous tion that by the close approach of, or actual state. In his book, The Earth,Jeffreys showed collisionwith, a visitingstar, the sun, or possibly it to be doubtfulthat the moon could have come a companionof the sun, or all threeof these,lost into being throughcondensation from a mass of enough gaseous substance to build our planets stellargas whichhad neverbeen part of a larger, and satellites. The speculation was at once trulyplanetary mass. He supportsthe view of adversely criticizedon the ground that a close astronomersin general that the partneringof approach of a wanderingstar to the sun is ex- earthand moon demands a special explanation- tremely improbable, but this objection loses one quite differentfrom any that may prove to some of its forceif, as reported,the stars of our be truefor the othersatellites of the solar system. galaxy were formerlymuch closer togetherthan The most elaborate attempt to account for now and correspondinglymore liable to mutual our own satellite was made by George H. Dar- close approaches. What appears to be a more win, using the resultsof his study of the moon's stubborntrouble has been indicated by Lyman motions. He proved that, before it began its Spitzer (1939). His reasoning,summarized by spirallingjourney away fromthe earth (because Whipple (1941: 237), is that gas torn out of the of tidal friction),the centersof the two globes stin,in mass equal to our planets and satellites, were no more than two or three earth-radii would be so hot (compare Russell, 1935: 111) apart, the day then being about fourhours long that it would explode and with such velocityof and a littleshorter than the month. The near- dispersal as to forbidcondensation to planetary ness of the bodies was such that Darwin (1908: forms; the gas would be completelydissipated 455) thoughtit natural to suspect the moon to in the depths of space. However, Whipple have been originallypart of the earth. This suggestsa possible way out of the difficulty:dis- suspicionof the great geophysicistis indeed one sipating explosion would not occur if the solar of the importantreasons for the writingof the disruptionwere relativelyslow, and he believes presentpaper. it wise to retainthe hypothesisof stellardisrup- Darwin took the angular momentumof the tion for our planetary system. earth-moonsystem at the epoch of theirsepara- Two othermodern explanations of that system tion to be the same as the total angular momen- may be mentioned. That of N6lke (1930, 1931) tum at the presenttime, as it had to be if the also demands a gaseous state and hightempera- systemhas kept constant mass and has not un- ture foreach planet at its birth. The