Pre-Nectarian
Sign in to saveThe pre-Nectarian period of the lunar geologic timescale runs from 4.533 billion years ago (the time of the initial formation of the Moon) to 3.920 billion years ago, when the Nectaris Basin was formed by a large impact. It is followed by the Nectarian period.
Key facts
- Geologic timespan.name
- Pre-Nectarian
- Geologic timespan.manual_color
- rgb(209.0, 77.0, 96.0)
- Geologic timespan.top_bar
- Lunar
- Geologic timespan.time_start
- 4533
- Geologic timespan.time_end
- 3920
- Geologic timespan.timeline
- Lunar periods
- Geologic timespan.celestial_body
- moon
- Geologic timespan.timescales_used
- Lunar Geologic Timescale
- Geologic timespan.chrono_unit
- Period
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Wikidata facts
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- start time
- 4600000000
- end time
- 3920000000
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Article
4 sectionsContents
- Description
- Impact basins
- References
- External links
The pre-Nectarian period of the lunar geologic timescale runs from 4.533 billion years ago (the time of the initial formation of the Moon) to 3.920 billion years ago, when the Nectaris Basin was formed by a large impact. It is followed by the Nectarian period.
==Description== Pre-Nectarian rocks are rare in the lunar sample suite; they are mostly composed of lunar highlands material which have been heavily churned, brecciated, and thermally affected by subsequent impacts, particularly during the Heavy Bombardment Eon (HBE; a period of 0.6-1 Gy from the formation of the Moon until at least the formation of the Imbrium Basin ~3.9 Ga, or even later with the formation of Orientale Basin) that marks the approximate beginning of the Nectarian period. The primary pre-Nectarian lunar highland material is dominated by the rock type anorthosite, which suggests that the early stage of lunar crustal formation occurred via mineral crystallization of a global magma ocean.