The New Thermal Model of Lunar Crust

Abstract

The past study examined the effect of megaregolith on the lunar heat flow, thermal conductivities of megaregolith, and lateral variation of the megaregolith thickness at the Apollo 17 site. Correcting the effect of megaregolith on the lunar heat flow, Warren and Rasmussen (1987) estimated the global average heat flow to be 12 mW/m2, which is much lower than 30 mW/m2 that is estimated by Langseth et al. (1973). We studied the lunar crustal thickness on lunar heat flow constructing a lunar thermal model. Based on this result, we will discuss constructing a lunar thermal model.