Regolith Thermophysical Features of Mare Smythii in Vertical Direction Revealed by CE-2 MRM Data

Mare Smythii is a special basin, which is one of the oldest mare basins with the considerably young mare basalts and the high density of floor-fractured craters. In this paper, the Chang’E-2 (CE) lunar microwave radiometer (MRM) data was used to evaluate the thermophysical features of the floor deposits in mare Smythii. Based on the theoretical simulation and the previous geological results, several special findings are noted as follows. (1) The substrate temperature in mare Smythii is likely fairly high. (2) The regolith thermophysical parameters change greatly with depth in the northeast unit, and there probably exists a special material in the shallow layer of the lunar regolith with strong thermal absorption ability. These special findings will be of fundamental significance to improve understanding the thermal evolution of the Moon.