Editing Mare Imbrium (section)

== Characteristics ==
With a diameter of 1145&nbsp;km, Mare Imbrium is second only to [[Oceanus Procellarum]] in size among the maria, and it is the largest mare associated with an impact basin.

The Imbrium Basin is surrounded by three concentric rings of mountains, uplifted by the colossal impact event that excavated it. The outermost ring of mountains has a diameter of 1300&nbsp;km and is divided into several different ranges; the [[Montes Carpatus]] to the south, the [[Montes Apenninus]] to the southeast, and the [[Montes Caucasus]] to the east. At their highest, the outer ring of mountains rise more than 5&nbsp;km above the surface of Mare Imbrium.<ref>[https://moonsummits.carrd.co The Moon's Highs and Lows]</ref> The ring mountains are not as well developed to the north and west, and it appears they were simply not raised as high in these regions by the Imbrium impact. The middle ring of mountains forms the [[Montes Alpes]] and [[Montes Archimedes]].
The innermost ring, with a diameter of 650&nbsp;km, is defined by [[Montes Recti]], [[Montes Teneriffe]], and possibly [[Montes Spitzbergen]]. Much of this ring is submerged under the mare's basalt, resulting in only isolated peaks remaining in some areas, such as [[Mons Pico]] and [[Mons La Hire]].
[[File:Mare Imbrium Si map.jpg|left|thumb|Selenochromatic Image (Si) of Mare Imbrium]]

Numerous estimates of the depth of the mare material have been made using various methods. These include analyses of gravity, seismic, and radar data; studies of craters partially filled with basalt and those that have completely penetrated the mare; and comparisons of lunar basins filled with mare deposits to unfilled basins. These studies have yielded depth estimates ranging from 2&nbsp;km<ref>{{cite journal
 | last1 = Thomson | first1 = B.J.
 | year = 2009
 | title = A new technique for estimating the thickness of mare basalts in Imbrium Basin
 | journal =  Geophysical Research Letters
 | volume = 36
| issue = 12
 | doi = 10.1029/2009GL037600
 | bibcode = 2009GeoRL..3612201T
 | url = https://doi.org/10.1029/2009GL037600
}}</ref>
to 5&nbsp;km<ref> {{cite journal
 | last1 = Dibb | first1 = S.D.
 | last2 = Kiefer  | first2 = W.S
 | year = 2015
 | title =  The Depth-Diameter relationship for large lunar impact basins and the implications for mare basalt thickness
 | journal = 46th LPSC 
 | volume = 1677
 | url = https://www.hou.usra.edu/meetings/lpsc2015/pdf/1677.pdf
}}</ref> in the central part of the mare. It is thought that the original crater left by the Imbrium impact was as much as 100 km deep, but that the floor of the basin bounced back upwards immediately afterwards.

[[File:Imbrium sculpture Ukert crater 3085 med.jpg|thumb|left|200px|Oblique view of Imbrium Sculpture, with the crater [[Ukert (crater)|Ukert]] right of center]]
Surrounding the Imbrium Basin is a region blanketed by [[ejecta]] from the impact, extending roughly 800&nbsp;km outward. Also encircling the basin is a pattern of radial grooves called the "Imbrium Sculpture", which have been interpreted as furrows cut in the Moon's surface by large projectiles blasted out of the basin at low angles, causing them to skim across the lunar surface ploughing out these features. The sculpture pattern was first identified by [[Grove Karl Gilbert]] in 1893.<ref>Gilbert, Grove Karl. [https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/100359666 The Moon's face, a study of the origin of its features.] Washington, Philosophical Society of Washington, 1893.</ref> Furthermore, a Moon-wide pattern of faults which run both radial to and concentric to the Imbrium basin were thought to have been formed by the Imbrium impact; the event literally shattered the Moon's entire [[lithosphere]]. At the region of the Moon's surface exactly opposite Imbrium Basin, there is a region of chaotic terrain (the crater [[Van de Graaff (crater)|Van de Graaff]]) which is thought to have been formed when the seismic waves of the impact were focused there after travelling through the Moon's interior. Mare Imbrium is about {{convert|750|mi|km}} wide.

A [[mass concentration (astronomy)|mass concentration]] (mascon), or gravitational high, was identified in the center of Mare Imbrium from Doppler tracking of the five [[Lunar Orbiter program|Lunar Orbiter]] spacecraft in 1968.<ref>{{cite journal | doi = 10.1126/science.161.3842.680 | title = Mascons: Lunar Mass Concentrations | year = 1968 | author = P. M. Muller, W. L. Sjogren | journal = Science | volume =  161 | issue = 3842  | pages = 680–684 | pmid=17801458|bibcode = 1968Sci...161..680M | s2cid = 40110502 }}</ref>  The Imbrium mascon is the largest on the Moon.  It was confirmed and mapped at higher resolution with later orbiters such as [[Lunar Prospector]] and [[Gravity Recovery and Interior Laboratory|GRAIL]].

<gallery heights="200px" mode="packed">
File:Imbrium basin topo.jpg|Shaded Relief map
File:Imbrium basin GRAIL gravity.jpg|Gravity map based on [[Gravity Recovery and Interior Laboratory|GRAIL]]
</gallery>