Did the Moon have Tectonic plates?

[orestis]

Hi everyone,

My friend and I were observing the moon and we were contemplating why the moon has mountain ranges as its core is now solid.We were wondering how these mountain ranges were formed.

Were these mountain ranges caused by moving tectinic plates or by some other phenomenon?

Thanks in advance
Cheers Orestis and Jim(friend)
From school.

[renormalised (Carl)]

The mountain ranges on the Moon were primarily formed via the impacts which occurred on its surface. They're basically wrinkle ridges and crater rims caused by the impacts. Some of the ranges were also formed as the Moon cooled and the crust shrank, creating faulted blocks of rock which thrust up above the general terrain. Same mechanism has occurred on Mercury and to a lesser extent on Mars. There are some ranges which may also have a localised tectonic origin (thrust faulting etc) but the Moon was too small and dry to have had any extensive plate tectonics. For a start, it cooled too quick. Plus, the mineralogy of the lunar rocks is rather dry...less than 1% by weight H2O.

However, the Moon is not completely solid...there are zones of partial melting in the deep mantle, plus a zone of melting close to the solid inner core of the Moon. Not enough to produce a magnetic field of any substance, but it's there.