Chinese researchers have discovered evidence of active landslides on the surface of the moon. According to the team, these landslides are most likely triggered by moonquakes (called endogenic moonquakes) and not asteroid impacts as previously thought.<\/p>\n
Since 2009, 41 new landslides have been observed on the moon. These were detected by comparing 562 pairs of satellite images (resolution <1 m\/pixel) of 74 unstable sites taken at different times.<\/p>\n
When compared to landslides on Earth, these moon versions<\/a> are much smaller, typically measuring around 0.62 miles (1 km long) and 328 feet (100 meters) wide. They also tend to be no more than 3.28 feet (1 m) deep, consisting of an estimated 3,531,467 cubic feet (100,000 cubic meters) of material.<\/p>\n However, researchers point out that\u00a0moonquakes<\/a>\u00a0may be worse than earthquakes of the same size because the\u00a0moon\u00a0is dry (there is no water in\u00a0rock\u00a0to absorb shock). Seismic waves lose energy slowly on the\u00a0moon, so quakes can last for hours, shaking structures much longer.<\/p>\n Moon is not as dead as once thought<\/p>\n \u201cWhile moonquakes were detected during the Apollo missions, conventional geological wisdom posited that lunar endogenic activity had essentially ceased, leaving geological hazard assessments of lunar seismicity largely unexplored,\u201d the team wrote the paper.<\/p>\n According to reports, most of these were found on steep slopes (24\u201342\u00b0), such as crater walls, wrinkle ridges (fault-related features), and volcanic patches. Most of them are also concentrated in the eastern Mare Imbrium basin<\/a>, suggesting this area is seismically active.<\/p>\n \u201cWhile sources of endogenic seismic activity on the moon are not completely understood yet, this interpretation aligns with the current thermal state of the moon, that the lunar interior remains active enough to drive endogenic seismic activity,\u201d the team added.<\/p>\n This part of the moon<\/a> is thought to have formed from a collision with a proto-planet during the late Heavy Bombardment phase of the Solar System\u2019s history. Researchers also found new impact craters on the moon, but found that less than 30% of them coincided with landslides.<\/p>\n This, they postulate, would indicate that the majority were instead caused by internal moonquakes, meaning the moon<\/a> is still geologically active. Not only is this interesting in itself, but it also shows the moon is not as geologically \u201cdead\u201d as once believed.<\/p>\n More work to be done<\/p>\n