moonquakes tagged posts

The shrinking Moon is still cracking—and scientists just found where it might quake next. Researchers have created the first worldwide map and detailed study of small mare ridges (SMRs), subtle geological features that signal tectonic activity on the Moon. The findings, published in The Planetary Science Journal, come from scientists at the National Air and Space Museum’s Center for Earth and Planetary Studies and their collaborators.

For the first time, scientists show that these ridges are relatively young and spread widely across the lunar maria, the broad, dark plains visible from Earth. By determining how SMRs form, the team has also identified new potential sources of moonquakes that could influence where future lunar missions choose to land.

How the Moon’s Tectonics Dif...

A new analysis suggests that the moon is actively shrinking and producing moonquakes along thousands of cliffs called thrust faults spr...

Geometric configuration of Apollo seismic stations and deep moonquake source regions. The lunar globe was taken from Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera (LROC)coutresy of NASA, and Apollo stations and deep moonquake nests were marked by the study’s authors. Credit: NASA and Kawamura et al/Journal of Geophysical Research/AGU

The same gravitational force responsible for creating tides on Earth could be causing deep quakes on the moon, a new study confirms. A new analysis of data gathered by the Apollo missions confirms that tidal stress – the gravitational pull of the moon on the Earth and of the Earth on the moon – is responsible for causing deep moonquakes, the lunar equivalent of earthquakes.

Seismometers placed on the moon during the Apollo 12, 14, 15 and 16 missions revealed the m...