Are Strong Lunar Crustal Magnetic Anomalies Always Associated With Unusual High Albedo?

Previous processing and analysis of the Lunar Prospector magnetometer (LP-mag) data set from the low altitude stage of the mission yielded coverage of approximately 40% of the Moon. Results from that data have been used to (1) identify a strong isolated anomaly near the Apollo 16 landing site that shows a correlation with a high albedo region of the Descartes Mountains; (2) identify several other isolated anomalies; and, (3) demonstrate a statistical correlation between basin ejecta terranes, high albedo swirls and crustal magnetization in the regions antipodal to the similarly-aged Orientale, Imbrium and Crisium basins. For both the isolated Descartes anomaly and the basin antipode clusters, an intriguing correlation between crustal magnetization and surface albedo was found, supporting previous findings from the Apollo missions. However, while these results indicate a possible association between magnetization and albedo, the nature of the association is uncertain and may be coincidental. Here, we present mapping results for a number of isolated anomalies that have been identified and discuss (1) possible source materials; and, (2) the association between these anomalies and albedo. In addition, other studies have identified regions that have an unusually high albedo (Hughes et al., 2006), including the Humorum antipode. Previous mapping has not yielded coverage of this region. We present new processing and mapping results attempting to extend the coverage from the LP-mag experiment.