The Nectarian Period of the lunar geologic timescale was from 3.920 billion years ago to 3.850 billion years ago. It is the period during which the Nectaris Basin and other major basins were formed by large impact events. Ejecta from Nectaris form the upper part of the densely cratered terrain found in lunar highlands. The period ended with the formation of the Imbrium basin, which initiated the Imbrian Period.[1] Magnetic anomalies found in some Nectarian Period basins suggest that the Moon possessed a core dynamo magnetic field at that time.[2]
| Nectarian | |
|---|---|
| Chronology | |
| Usage information | |
| Celestial body | Earth's Moon |
| Time scale(s) used | Lunar geologic timescale |
| Definition | |
| Chronological unit | Period |
Relationship to Earth's geologic time scale
editSince little or no geological evidence on Earth exists from the time spanned by the Nectarian Period of the Moon, the Nectarian has been used by at least one notable scientific work[3] as an unofficial subdivision of the terrestrial Hadean eon.
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ Liu, J.; Guo, D. (2018). "Lunar geological timescale" (PDF). Encyclopedia of lunar science. pp. 1–3. Retrieved 2024-09-01.
- ^ Hood, Lon L. (February 2011). "Central magnetic anomalies of Nectarian-aged lunar impact basins: Probable evidence for an early core dynamo". Icarus. 211 (2): 1109–1128. Bibcode:2011Icar..211.1109H. doi:10.1016/j.icarus.2010.08.012.
- ^ W. Harland; R. Armstrong; A. Cox; L. Craig; A. Smith; D. Smith (1990). A Geologic time scale 1989. Cambridge University Press.