regolith
Loose planetary covering
Regolith is the layer of loose, unconsolidated material covering solid rock—dust, soil, broken rock, and other debris.
On Earth, regolith includes soil and sediment.
The term appears most often in discussions of the Moon and Mars, where regolith is the powdery surface layer created by billions of years of meteorite impacts: Astronauts left footprints in the lunar regolith.
The moon's exterior terrain
- Apollo missionsNASA's lunar exploration program
- moonrocksGeological samples from space
- selenologyScientific study of the moon
- mariaDark lunar plains
highlands · craters · breccia · micrometeorites · helium-3 · moonwalk · Artemis · lunar dust
Fine-grained volcanic stone
- brecciaCemented angular rock fragments
- glass beadsSmall ornamental spheres
- agglutinatesCauses to adhere together
- pyroxeneRock-forming silicate group
olivine · silicate · oxide · fines · dust · particles · granular · unconsolidated
Fe plus oxygen
- dust stormsWindblown particulate weather events
- CuriosityMars surface laboratory
- PerseveranceSustained effort despite difficulty
- finesMonetary sanctions or particles
Atmospheric breakdown of materials
- fragmentationBreaking into smaller pieces
- agglutinationJoining units into wholes
- sputteringParticle ejection from surfaces
- radiation exposureContact with ionizing energy
solar wind · cosmic rays · mechanical breakdown · cratering · pulverization
Extraterrestrial rocks on Earth
- carbonaceousContaining or composed of carbon
- silicateOxygen-bound crystal compound
- metallicResembling ore-based elements
- chondriteMeteorite containing round grains
Hayabusa · planetesimal · micrometeorites · cosmic dust · rubble pile · microgravity · volatile
lunar surface
The moon's exterior terrain
- Apollo missionsNASA's lunar exploration program
- moonrocksGeological samples from space
- selenologyScientific study of the moon
maria · highlands · craters · breccia · micrometeorites · helium-3 · moonwalk · Artemis · lunar dust · agglutinates
basalt
Fine-grained volcanic stone
- brecciaCemented angular rock fragments
- glass beadsSmall ornamental spheres
- agglutinatesCauses to adhere together
pyroxene · olivine · silicate · oxide · fines · dust · particles · granular · unconsolidated
iron oxide
Fe plus oxygen
- dust stormsWindblown particulate weather events
- CuriosityMars surface laboratory
- PerseveranceSustained effort despite difficulty
weathering
Atmospheric breakdown of materials
- fragmentationBreaking into smaller pieces
- agglutinationJoining units into wholes
- sputteringParticle ejection from surfaces
radiation exposure · solar wind · cosmic rays · mechanical breakdown · cratering · pulverization
meteorites
Extraterrestrial rocks on Earth
- carbonaceousContaining or composed of carbon
- silicateOxygen-bound crystal compound
- metallicResembling ore-based elements
chondrite · Hayabusa · planetesimal · micrometeorites · cosmic dust · rubble pile · microgravity · volatile
monolith, monolithic, megalith, neolithic, lithic, megalithic, paleolithic, lithosphere, xenolith