Evidence of 'relatively recent activity' on moon found by scientists
For decades, scientists have pored over the moon's surface to unravel its intricate geological and evolutionary past. Clues from the lunar maria - vast, dark expanses of solidified lava - hinted at a history of intense compression on the moon.
Researchers believed that the prominent, arching ridges on the moon's near side were the result of ancient contractions, and that the maria had lain dormant ever since.
However, a ground-breaking new study suggests that the moon's subsurface may be more dynamic than previously thought.
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Scientists from the Smithsonian Institution and the University of Maryland made a startling discovery - small ridges on the moon's far side were significantly younger than those on the near side that have been studied before.
"Many scientists believe that most of the moon's geological movements happened two and a half, maybe three billion years ago," said Jaclyn Clark, an assistant research scientist in UMD's Department of Geology.
"But we're seeing that these tectonic landforms have been recently active in the last billion years and may still be active today. These small mare ridges seem to have formed within the last 200 million years or so, which is relatively recent considering the moon's timescale."
Using cutting-edge mapping and modelling techniques, a team of scientists has discovered 266 previously unidentified small ridges on the far side of the moon.
To estimate the age of these small ridges, the researchers employed a technique known as crater counting. They found that the ridges were significantly younger than other features in their surroundings.
"Essentially, the more craters a surface has, the older it is; the surface has more time to accumulate more craters," Clark explained. "After counting the craters around these small ridges and seeing that some of the ridges cut through existing impact craters, we believe these landforms were tectonically active in the last 160 million years."
Interestingly, the far-side ridges were similar in structure to ones found on the moon's near side, suggesting both were created by the same forces, likely a combination of the moon's gradual shrinking and shifts in the lunar orbit.
The Apollo missions detected shallow moonquakes decades ago. The new findings suggest that these small ridges might be related to similar seismic activity.
"We hope that future missions to the moon will include tools like ground penetrating radar so researchers can better understand the structures beneath the lunar surface," Clark enthused.
"Knowing that the moon is still geologically dynamic has very real implications for where we're planning to put our astronauts, equipment and infrastructure on the moon."
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