Evidence of recent thrust faulting on the Moon revealed by the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera.
Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera images reveal previously undetected lobate thrust-fault scarps and associated meter-scale secondary tectonic landforms that include narrow extensional troughs or graben, splay faults, and multiple low-relief terraces. Lobate scarps are among the youngest landforms on the Moon, based on their generally crisp appearance, lack of superposed large-diameter impact craters, and the existence of crosscut small-diameter impact craters. Identification of previously known scarps was limited to high-resolution Apollo Panoramic Camera images confined to the equatorial zone. Fourteen lobate scarps were identified, seven of which are at latitudes greater than +/-60 degrees, indicating that the thrust faults are globally distributed. This detection, coupled with the very young apparent age of the faults, suggests global late-stage contraction of the Moon.
Watters
Thomas R
TR
Center for Earth and Planetary Studies, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC 20560, USA. watterst@si.edu
Robinson
Mark S
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Beyer
Ross A
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Banks
Maria E
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Bell
James F
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Pritchard
Matthew E
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Hiesinger
Harald
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van der Bogert
Carolyn H
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Thomas
Peter C
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Turtle
Elizabeth P
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Williams
Nathan R
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