Clementine Collection

The plateau of the Aristarchus crater has experienced intense volcanic activity, both effusive and explosive. It includes the densest concentration of lunar sinuous rilles (snakelike valleys) including the largest known, Vallis Schroteri, which is about 160 km long, up to 11 km wide, and 1 km deep. The rilles in this area begin at "cobra-head" craters, which are the apparent vents for a "dark mantling" deposit covering the plateau and nearby areas to the north and east. This dark mantling deposit probably consists primarily of iron-rich glass spheres (pyroclastics or cinders), and has a deep red color on this image. Rather than forming cinder cones as on Earth, the lower gravity and vacuum of the Moon allows the pyroclastics to travel much greater heights and distances, thus depositing an extensive regional blanket.

A high resolution image is also available. Warning: this image is very, very, large (57 Mbytes)!!!!

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