On the equipotential surface hypothesis of lunar maria floors

The equipotential surface hypothesis suggests that lunar maria floors lie o n a surface parallel to the selenoid. This is examined using the spherical harmonic representations of the Clementine topography and Lunar Prospector gravity data. It is demonstrated that the floors of both circular and nonci rcular maria significantly deviate from an equipotential surface. Deeper ci rcular maria and the deeper part of the noncircular Mare Tranquillitatis ha ve been subsided under larger mass loads in the crust. We calculate the mas s beneath the maria to be in excess to the mass required for isostatic comp ensation of the topography at 60 km depth. A global map of this excess mass shows that the noncircular maria are isostatically compensated, unlike the circular maria. The map also reveals seven new sizable mascons: the three largest are associated with Mendel-Rydberg, Mare Humboldtianum, and Mare Mo scoviense.