If lunar tectonic activity is more prevalent than thought, the landing gear design for the Tall starship hls may need to be broader and more stable. Credit: Nasa
More than 3 billion years ago, when the Moon's Volcanic Mare (The Dark Lunar “Seas”) Were formed, The Moon was rife with Tectonic Activity and Moonquakes that SHOOK Its Surface. Evidence of these Ground-Shuddering Events can be seen on the moon's nearside in the form of long features called windle ridges-created when sheets of basalt lava slumped and setwords in Cradling the Maria.
But while the moon no longer hosts active volcanoes, it may still be more geologically active than it appears. In the Past Several Years, Studies of Mare Surfaces Have Identated A New Type of Feature Dubbed Small Mare Ridges, or SMRS, which appear to haver to formed recent May Continue on the Moon Today.
In the January 2025 issue of The planetary science journeyA Team of Researchers at the Smitsonian Institution in Washington, DC, and the University of Maryland in College Park Present The Most Comprehensive Survey Yet of Small Mare Ridges, Examing Them On The Near Moon. Their Results Provide Evidence of Ongoing Modeern Tectonic Activity that Cold Impact Upcoming Lunar Missions.
Current Moonquakes
Smrs are thought to be formed in part by the Global Stresses of the Ongoing Contraction of the Moon: As the Moon's Interior Cools, The World Very Slowly Shrinks – Amouning to Roghl 150 Feet Hundred Million Years. The tides created by the changing effect of Earth's gravity through the moon's tilted and elliptical orbit and late-statge mare cooling are also also also in forming smrs.
The recent discovered ridges are Typically 330 Feet (100 Meters) Wide and up to 3,300 Feet (1,000 Meters) in Length, Too Small to be Seen from Earth. But using the richly detailed images from nasa's lunar reconnaissance orbiter, researchers have identified 1,120 smrs on the nerside. Their fresh appearance implies they formed withdin the past billion years, and they appear across the face of the moon.
The new work expands the study of smrs to the lunar farside to provide a more complete picture of modern lunar tectonic activity. The Farside Possesses Fewer Maria Than the Nearside. Indeed, only two, mare engineii and mare moscovionese, have been officially named. The Massive South Pole-Aitkin Basin, Covering Most of the Farside southern hemisphere, contains many small mare patches that allowed expanding smr studies to the farside.
Because the Farside Crust is Thicker, The Volcanic Erupties that Created Its Mare Petches Occurred Later Than the Formation of the Classic Nearside Maria. Curiously, the Farside Maria are devoid of the lengthy wrinkle ridges Common to the Nearside. This may be due to the Farside's Thicker Crust, which is less flexible
A Valuable Resource
For their smr investigations, the team of reserchers (Cole Nypaver and Thomas Watters of the Smitsonian and Jaclyn Clark of the University of Maryland) portal To access high-resolution imagery and terrain data gathered from millions of laser altimeter shot
A total of 266 farside smrs was identified, mostly in the southern hemisphere. This is about a Quarter of the number of identified nearside smrs, but a good sampling considering there are far more basalt patches of the far side.
To determine the ages of the smrs, the researchrs used a couple of methods. In one method, they examined the lunar reconnaissance orbiter imagery to count craters near the features. Fewer Craters Indicate a Younger Surface, as Less Time has passed for meteoroid impacts to accumulate.
In another method, the team studed small craters that have been bised by an smr. Small CRATERS Have a Shorter LifESPAN Than Larger ons They are more Quickly Filled With Regolith Thrown from Surrounding impacts. Thus, Finding a small Crater bisected by an smr indicates the ridge is geologically young.
Within the south pole-aitkin basin and bolyai and aitken craters, the team found 13, 20, and 32 small craters, respectively, bisected by an smr. By comparing the anticipated lifetime of the small craters at these three locations, they calculated that the smrs interesting the craters formed 110, 14, 14, and 34 Million years ago. A derived age of millions of years may see seem ancient, but on the lunar timecale of 4.6 billion years, the formation of these smrs is an astonishingly recent event and demonstrates the moon May still be seti -still before.
Moonquakes and Spacecraft
The potential of present-day moonquakes in the south polar region has stark implications for the crewed artemis landings planned in the life future. An Occasional Small Murmur of a Monquake will be a scientific treatment, allowing seismic instruments delivered by artemis to study the geological structure of the lunar interior. However, a lunar “Big one” could damage the infrastructure of a lunar science base. Cracks in walls that would be mere annoyances after a terrestrial earthquake would have much time more ominous consortesquences in the unforgiving vacuum environment of the monitor.
The Moonquake Resilience of the spacex starship human landing system The crew cabin of the monument-Like starship will cause 110 feet (33 meters) Above the surface. As depicted in current illustrations, The Small Landing Gear Footprint offers Little Stability from the Seismic Roll of a Large Monquake. A topped starship spells doom for the crew.
If moonquakes are a frequent reality, a more robust redesigned starship It would also also impact plans to deliver Science Cargo and Large Rovers to the Lunar South Pole.
The Smaller Blue Origin Blue Moon Lunar lander is short However, the development of the blue moon lander is Several Years Behind Starship HLS and the Blue Moon Cargo Capacity is significantly Less than that projection for starships.
Previous Seismic Studies 50 years ago By the Apollo Lunar Seismic Experiment Indicated Moonquakes are shallow events correlated to the location of lobate scarps – Another Type of Terrain with TCCON with TCC These scarps, typically about 130 feet (40 meters) high, form when the moon's interior cools and shrinks, leaveing the More Brittle Crust With Little Support. The crust eventually snaps, part of it riding up and over another part. The morphology of smrs is similar to the larger lobate scarps and points to their also being a source of regional lunar seismic activity.
Zone of avoidance
One conclusion from the study of smrs is that these regions should be avoided by future creave landings until the stability of these regions is full undersrstood. NYPAVER and His Collegues Sugges That INTEAD OF DIPLOYING SMRS on Creved Artemis Missions, These Regents Should Be Thorrated by International Partns A Commercial Lunar Payload Services Program.
An intriguing point about the discovery of widespread small mare ridges is that the portal used in the research, the web-spoken Lroci Quickmap ToolIs available to every lunar enthusiast. Click on the Quickmap Link and Zoom in on your favorite regions of the mooon and explore its intricate detail and structure. Who Knows? You Too Might Discover Something New About The Moon.
