Lunar surface still active: study Active Moon A new study
indicates the Moon may not be as geologically dead as previously
thought, showing signs that it is simultaneously stretching and
shrinking. New high-resolution images from NASA's Lunar
Reconnaissance Orbiter, show parts of the Moon's surface are
being pulled apart by expansion, forming small narrow trenches
or rift valleys in the mare basalts and the highlands of the
Lunar far side. The finding, which appears in the online edition
of Nature Geoscience, contradicts the notion that the Moon is a
cold, dead world with a surface that's slowly shrinking as its
interior cools. These linear valleys called graben, form when
the crust stretches, breaks and drops down along two bounding
faults. Scientists estimate the graben formed less than 50
million years ago, which is recent by geologic time scales.
Study lead author Dr Thomas Watters from the Centre for Earth
and Planetary Studies at the Smithsonian's National Air and
Space Museum in Washington DC says, "Th