Detectability of subsurface interfaces in lunar maria by the LRS/SELENE sounding radar: Influence of mineralogical composition

The Lunar Radar Sounder (LRS) of the SELENE mission has detected horizontal subsurface features at depths of a few hundreds of meters within all major lunar maria. We have mapped these features at global scale and found a heterogeneous geographical distribution, which correlates negatively with the maps of TiO(2) and FeO obtained from UV-VIS measurements by the Clementine probe. High concentration of ilmenite (FeTiO(3)) in the basaltic mare lava can explain this correlation, this mineral being a strong absorber for low frequency electromagnetic waves. Thus, absence of detection of subsurface interfaces by LRS on a large portion of lunar maria does not necessarily imply that these interfaces are actually absent. Citation: Pommerol, A., W. Kofman, J. Audouard, C. Grima, P. Beck, J. Mouginot, A. Herique, A. Kumamoto, T. Kobayashi, and T. Ono (2010), Detectability of subsurface interfaces in lunar maria by the LRS/SELENE sounding radar: Influence of mineralogical composition, Geophys. Res. Lett., 37, L03201, doi: 10.1029/2009GL041681.