Overview
- Researchers cataloged 2,634 small mare ridge segments across the Moon’s volcanic plains, adding 1,114 newly identified segments on the nearside.
- Crater-count ages indicate these ridges are geologically young, averaging about 124 million years with some as recent as roughly 50 million years.
- Analyses show the ridges form on shallow thrust faults like highland lobate scarps, with several landforms transitioning between terrains as the Moon contracts.
- Modeling places many faults at depths of roughly 30–200 meters and highlights elevated strain in Oceanus Procellarum, with notable populations in Mare Tranquillitatis and Mare Serenitatis.
- The findings align with Apollo-era shallow moonquakes and carry direct implications for Artemis-era site selection, though authors note imaging gaps and small modeling samples that call for targeted observations and new seismic stations.