Asteroid impact carved massive canyons on the moon in minutes

The far side of the moon holds many mysteries, including massive trenches near its south pole that have long puzzled astronomers.

Recent findings suggest that these formations, comparable in size to the Grand Canyon, likely took shape in just minutes. Scientists believe they were sculpted by the immense forces unleashed by an ancient impact billions of years ago.

David Kring of the Lunar and Planetary Institute of the Universities Space Research Association in Houston played a leading role in investigating this phenomenon.

Along with fellow researchers, Kring found that the ancient collision hurled massive amounts of rocky debris across the lunar surface.

Unexpected formation speed

Computer simulations point to an extraordinary event that occurred about 3.8 billion years ago.

A 15-mile-wide space rock released energy equivalent to about 130 times the global stockpile of nuclear weapons in under 10 minutes.

The catastrophic force tore two canyons, each stretching around 170 miles in length. One is roughly 2.2 miles deep, while the other descends about 1.7 miles below the surface.

Moon canyons carved by debris

“Knots of rock within that curtain of debris hit the surface in a series of smaller impact events, effectively carving the canyons,” said Kring.

Data from NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter revealed that boulders sped across the moon at nearly 2,200 miles per hour. 

Straight-line features near the Schrödinger impact basin trace the path of these ejected fragments. This basin rests on the moon’s far side, forming one of the last massive craters in the inner solar system’s era of heavy bombardment.

Our planet has lost most evidence of similar events because of plate tectonics. Sections of Earth’s crust shift and plunge under each other, recycling ancient terrain and erasing old scars.

Space rocks on a collision course

The researchers link the ancient collision to a time when Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune may have shifted their orbits. These changes are thought to have triggered a surge of asteroids directed toward the inner solar system.

Unusual gravitational interactions are believed to have nudged many space rocks onto collision courses with the moon.

Lunar exploration potential

The Artemis program aims to send astronauts to the moon’s polar region for the first time since the 1970s. Researchers suspect that remnants of rock tossed outward by the canyon-forming impact may be easier to reach near the polar zone.

Those samples could clarify how the moon formed after a huge object struck Earth in the distant past. Many scientists propose that molten material spun off and coalesced as Earth cooled, leaving behind the natural satellite we see today.

Moon canyons remain unchanged

Some planetary bodies exhibit dramatic changes over eons, but the moon’s surface remains relatively static. Tectonic activity is minimal there, so relics from ancient collisions stay visible.

Nearby craters have peppered the same region across millions of years, yet the two large chasms stand out. Their linear shape radiates away from the round zone of impact, indicating a unique origin.

Moon canyons and solar system history

Several lines of evidence show that the canyons appeared when chunks of rock slammed back to the ground soon after the main collision. Researchers rely on crater patterns and topographic mapping to verify this sequence.

This chaotic process likely occurred elsewhere in the early solar system. Shattered material from violent impacts shaped many worlds before they settled into their current orbits.

Impact on future missions

Astronauts returning to the lunar environment might stand on ground shaped by that ancient chaos. Experts hope to collect core samples from these deep sites for clues about the first billion years of our cosmic neighborhood.

Those specimens might hold secrets about the moon’s igneous history and the tempo of bombardments. Each layer represents a milestone in the moon’s timeline.

Significance of the moon canyons

Investigating these canyons on the moon could refine our knowledge of lunar geology and the origins of rocky bodies across the solar system. Their existence suggests that cataclysmic impacts were far more common than once assumed.

This discovery shapes our thinking about planetary evolution and highlights the value of studying ancient surfaces. New data could shift perspectives on the moon’s role in Earth’s early development.

In a single cataclysmic moment, a space rock bigger than the dinosaur-killing asteroid transformed a quiet lunar basin. Now, future explorers may look into those gashes for signs of our shared planetary past.

Curiosity about these colossal scars will likely fuel more research and inspire new generations of observers.

The study is published in Nature Communications.

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