From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Mare Vaporum (the "sea of vapors") is a lunar mare located between the southwest rim of Mare Serenitatis and the southeast rim of Mare Imbrium. The lunar material surrounding the mare is from the Lower Imbrian epoch, and the mare material is from the Eratosthenian epoch. The mare lies in an old basin or crater that is within the Procellarum basin. To the south of the mare is a light colored thin line. This feature is Rima Hyginus. The mare is bordered by the mountain range Montes Apenninus.

Mare Vaporum as seen from lunar orbit

To the north the Mare Vaporum is bounded by a triangular highland region. This lighter-hued area of irregular terrain is bounded along the northwest by the rugged Montes Apenninus range, and to the northeast by the less impressive Montes Haemus mountains. Portions of this area have been penetrated by flows of magma that connect to the Mare Vaporum.

In his Almagestum Novum, the notable selenographer Giovanni Riccioli named this highland region the Terra Nivium, latin for "Land of Snows". However, unlike his naming scheme for craters and lunar mares, his nomenclature for the continental areas of the Moon never came into common use.

This irregular area contains a number of smaller depressions that have become covered in flows of basaltic-lavas. These form what are essentially miniature lunar mares. They are clustered near the southern borders of the area, and fill much of the terrain between Mare Vaporum and the Montes Haemus. These mare-like features are generally irregular in shape, and many are joined together through gaps between the more rugged islands of continental terrain.

These areas are listed in the table below, ordered from west to east. The listed diameter is actually the smallest circle that fully contains the feature.

• List of maria on the Moon
• Lunar geologic timescale
• Selenography