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COLLEGE PARK, Md. – Do not adjust your telescope: if you have the impression that the moon seems smaller, you are right. A new study, following previous research, which revealed that the moon was shrinking as it cooled, showed that it was still narrowing and was experiencing what is called "moon tremors" ".
Scientists believe that the moon was created some 4.5 billion years ago as a result of collisions of asteroids and meteors, but collisions have made its interior very hot. When it eventually got cool, it also shriveled – in the same way that a grape shrivels when it becomes a grape. The wrinkles we see on the grapes are likened to stair-shaped cliffs that form consequently on the surface of the moon. thrust faults.
Researchers at the University of Maryland now claim that the earthquakes caused by these faults continued as the moon continued to shrink. The researchers, led by Nicholas Schmerr, assistant professor of geology, analyzed huge amounts of seismic data from instruments placed on the moon's surface by NASA's Apollo missions in the 1960s and 1970s. team created a new algorithm that allowed scientists to locate more precisely the epicenter of 28 moon tremor recorded between 1969 and 1977.
The research team superimposed Apollo location data on images taken by NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO), revealing numerous thrust faults. The researchers found that at least eight of the recorded earthquakes were due to tectonic activity rather than asteroid impacts and earthquakes from inside the moon.
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"We found that a number of tremors recorded in the Apollo data were occurring very close to the flaws seen in the LRO images," Schmerr says in a statement, adding that the LRO images also reveal evidence recent movements of faults, such as landslides and fallen rocks. "It is very likely that the defects are still active today. You often do not see any active tectonics anywhere other than on Earth, so it's very exciting to think that these faults can still produce moon tremors. "
Scientists say that the moonquakes are similar to an earthquake with a magnitude of 2 to 5.
The images taken by the LRO show more than 3,500 cliffs or breakaways since 2009. New traces of falling rocks also support the theory of moon tremors, as well as the bright areas along the fault falls where landslides occur. field seem to be produced.
"For me, these results underscore the need to return to the moon," Schmerr added. "We learned a lot from the Apollo missions, but they only scratched the surface. With a larger network of modern seismometers, we could make enormous progress in our understanding of the geology of the moon. This gives very promising fruits for science during a future mission on the Moon. "
The study was published in the journal Nature Geoscience.
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