| Definition of Regolith:
The powdery blanket
that covers the Moon is called the lunar regolith, a term for
mechanically produced debris layers on planetary surfaces. Many
scientists also call it the "lunar soil," but it contains none
of the organic matter that occurs in soils on Earth. Although
it is everywhere, the regolith is thin, ranging from about two
meters in some places to perhaps 20 meters thick. The regolith
consists of rock and mineral fragments derived from the original
bedrock. It also contains glassy particles formed by the impacts.
In many lunar regoliths, half of the particles are composed of
mineral fragments that are bound together by impact glass; scientists
call these objects agglutinates.
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