What type of land mass are the dark patches on the moon?

Question

are they called Mountains, Flatlands, Craters, or Oceans?

Answer 1

They are called "Maria", the Latin word for Seas. The Latin word for ocean is "oceanus". The largest mare on the moon is "Oceanus Procellarum" which translates to "the ocean of storms". The next biggest mare I believe is "Mare Tranquilitis" meaning "the sea of tranquility" or "the tranquil sea" which is where Neil Armstrong first walked on the moon.

Answer 2

Well the famous "Sea of Tranquility" (where the Apollo 11 landing occurred) wasn't actually a sea. It was just like the rest of the Moon: desolate and rocky. The dark patches you observe on the moon are just craters and land that is shadowed by mountainous ranges on the Moon's surface.

As contrast, if we were able to see the other side of the Moon (which we can't because only one face of the Moon can be viewed from Earth) It would be extremely dark anyway because it has far more cratered and barren terrain due to Millions of years of exposure to a far greater number of asteroid/comet impacts than the side we see.

Answer 3

The dark patches are actually called seas, the best example being the sea of tranquility, but they are actually just large craters formed billions of years ago.

Answer 4

The primordial laval flows into huge shallow basins on the moon filled up the basins, and their material is a different color from the rest of the moon's surface. Or another way to put it, the basins have a lower albedo.

Answer 5

I believe our moon was a active planet millions of years ago. Active volcanoes formed the large plains. The lava plains do not reflect light which could be compared to cooler dark spots on the sun.

Answer 6

They are called "mare"(ma-rae) as sea or ocean in Latin. They are usually made out of bassaltic type powder like sand.

Answer 7

If you do a search on the net, I'm sure you'll find a good site with photos, names and explanations - Enjoy exploring!!