Swiss Cheese On the Moon

[PPI Karl]

My god, the moon really is like Swiss Cheese in some places




Impact craters are visible everywhere on the Moon, but pits are rare. This pit in Mare Ingenii (located at -35.95?N, 166.06?E) is about 427 feet (130 meters) in diameter.

Rare Hole In the Moon Photographed
By Denise Chow
SPACE.com Staff Writer
posted: 24 June 2010
01:23 pm ET

New photos of the moon have revealed the most detailed views yet of a rare hole in the lunar surface ? a pit large enough to swallow an entire football field whole.

High-resolution cameras aboard the Japanese Kaguya spacecraft first spotted the irregularly shaped chasm, located in Mare Ingenii on the moon's southern hemisphere. Now, NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter has taken a new, up-close photo of the moon pit from lunar orbit.

"Only three have been discovered thus far, so I believe it is safe to state that skylights (pits) are rare at the 100-meter scale," Mark Robinson, principal investigator for the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera (LROC) at Arizona State University, told SPACE.com in an e-mail.

Mare Ingenii, also called the "sea of cleverness," is best known for its prominent lunar swirls, which are highly reflective surface features that are associated with magnetic anomalies. The new images of the region from LROC show a giant pit measuring about 427 feet (130 meters) in diameter.

The boulders and debris resting on the floor of the cavity are partially illuminated and likely originated at the surface, falling through the pit opening during its collapse. The hole is thought to be the result of a partially collapsed lava tube.

A similar moon pit, which was believed to be a skylight into a lava tube, was previously discovered by the Kaguya mission in the Marius Hills region of the moon. The new pit in Mare Ingenii, however, lacks the numerous volcanic features that were found in the Marius Hills region.

"The existence of lava tubes and thus skylights had long been postulated," Robinson said. "However it is a surprise to me how large and beautifully preserved are the three that we have seen thus far."

Closer examination of Mare Ingenii could help scientists understand the differences between the two areas of the lunar surface, and such discoveries could also spur on further exploration of the moon, said Robinson.

"Imagine how fantastic it would be to land in one of these skylights and explore underground on the moon!" he said.

[Damian]

What a cool shot!  It's the moon has a puncture wound...weird looking.

And what about the "highly reflective surface features that are associated with magnetic anomalies"...I wasn't aware of this.  Are the magnetic anomalies experienced near this area of the lunar surface, or are they experienced here on Earth?  Does anyone know about this?

[PPI Tim]

I agree it is no impact crater. It looks more like a belly button. A inny to be exact.
I wonder if it could be a sinkhole.

[PPI Karl]

What a cool shot!  It's the moon has a puncture wound...weird looking.

And what about the "highly reflective surface features that are associated with magnetic anomalies"...I wasn't aware of this.  Are the magnetic anomalies experienced near this area of the lunar surface, or are they experienced here on Earth?  Does anyone know about this?

Good question.  I'm not really sure, Damian.  My first thought was that they were associated with magma flows, but I honestly don't know.

[PPI Brian]

Ah, a lunar lava tube. I think it's great that they are beginning to discover things that planetary geologists have theorized for such a long time. I still recall the astronomy books I had when I was a kid learning how to use my first department store telescope. They were written in the 1950's and said in no-nonsense terms that the craters on the moon were all created by volcanoes. The Apollo missions proved once and for all that a majority of the craters on the moon were caused by impacts, and a lot of the volcanism, such as the vast expanses of basaltic flood deposits in the maria, were side effects of massive impacts when the moon was forming.

I am intrigued by their claim "Mare Ingenii, also called the "sea of cleverness," is best known for its prominent lunar swirls, which are highly reflective surface features that are associated with magnetic anomalies." All I remember about Mare Ingenii is that it's located on the farside of the moon. 

http://www.youtube.com/v/m8P5ujNwEwM&hl=en_US&fs=1&

[PPI Tim]

It is a sink hole caused from water long ago.

[PPI Karl]

Anyone read First Men In the Moon (or see the 1960s film with Ray Harryhausen special effects)?  Once again, visionary H.G. Wells foresaw an underground network of caverns and lava tubes on the moon decades beforehand.  Gotta love that guy.

[PPI Tracy]

We have lava tubes here on earth, so why not something like it on the moon or on other planets?  I mean there are so many ways that they mirror earth and vice versa, right?

[Damian]

It looks exactly like a sinkhole.  It shouldn't seem strange to me but it does for some reason.  Maybe it because I associate sinkholes with water moving underground or storm water movement.  Strange and cool!