Bouguer gravity anomaly of the Moon from CE-1 topography data: Implications for the impact basin evolution

In this study, the terrain correction for lunar free-air gravity anomaly (FAGA) is calculated in spherical coordinates based on the global topography data detected by the laser altimeter on Chang’E-1 (CE-1). The obtained lunar Bouguer gravity anomaly (BGA) reveals density irregularities of the interior mass. BGA is important in characterizing the mascon basins. According to the BGA of the Moon, the South Pole-Aitken (SPA) basin is considered the largest mascon basin on the Moon, and the feature of BGA in the basin implies the impacting direction. Further, the mascon basins seem to be classified into two types, Type Highland and Type Plain. For the mascon basins of Type Highland the dense materials mainly come from the shallow crust, which are associated with the basalt deposits. The other type, Type Plain, includes mascon basins whose major dense materials may be located deep at the lithosphere, corresponding to the uplifted mantle.