Marius Hills: Morphometry, Rheology, and Mode of Emplacement

Mare domes are smooth low features with gentle convex upward profiles. Isolated domes may be found in almost all maria, but significant concentrations occur in the Hortensius/Milichius/T. Mayer region, Oceanus Procellarum, and Mare Tranquillitatis [1]. The Marius Hills in Oceanus Procellarum represent the lunar region in which domes are most abundant. The surface material of the complex has been assigned to Eratosthenian age [2]. In the Marius Hills, low domes can be found as well as steep-sided features with rough surfaces, resulting from superposed flow lobes and cones, classified as class 7 domes in [3]. Often, steep domes are superimposed on low domes. They are contemporaneous or of younger age [4]. We examine a set of 30 volcanic structures, including domes with different shapes and profiles, in order to study the morphometric properties and the style of volcanism that occurred in the Marius Hills region.