doi.org/10.3847/PSJ/ae226a
Credibility: 989
#Moon
The Moon is not frozen in time. It is still slowly shrinking, a process that happens because its interior continues to cool after billions of years of existence.
As the core and mantle lose heat, the surface contracts, generating compressive forces that deform the crust and create characteristic fissures and elevations.
Scientists have known this for some time, especially because of the lobate slopes – large faults where blocks of rock are pushed over each other, forming visible steps in the highest regions of the Moon.
Now, a new investigation has revealed something important: thousands of similar, but smaller, structures spread across the vast dark plains called lunar seas.
These small ridges, known as SMRs (small mare ridges), are recent evidence of this contraction and could be sources of lunar tremors, the famous moonquakes.
Using detailed images captured by NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter camera, researchers systematically mapped these ridges on the visible side of the Moon.
They identified more than a thousand new segments, bringing the known total to more than 2,600.
Most impressively, these structures are geologically young: on average, they are about 124 million years old, a similar age to the lobate slopes in the highlands, which are about 105 million years old.
This means that much of this tectonic activity happened in the last 20% of the Moon’s history, that is, in the last billion years approximately.
Unlike Earth, where the crust is divided into plates that move, collide and create mountains or oceans, the Moon has a single, rigid crust.
When it shrinks, tension builds up and is released forming these compressive faults.
Lobed slopes appear mainly in the highlands, while small ridges appear in the lunar maria – the flat, dark areas formed by ancient basaltic lavas.
In many places, the two structures connect, sharing the same faults, which reinforces that they all have the same cause: the global contraction of the star.
These discoveries go beyond scientific curiosity.
They help to better understand how the Moon evolved internally and how it may still be geologically active.
Previous research has linked the lobate slopes to lunar tremors detected by instruments left behind by the Apollo missions.
Now, with the small ridges in the seas, a new map of potentially seismic zones appears.
This is especially relevant for future missions, such as NASA’s Artemis program, which plans to return astronauts to the lunar surface and establish permanent bases.
Knowing where these active faults occur allows us to choose safer landing sites, avoid areas with a higher risk of earthquakes, and plan buildings that better resist possible tremors.
At the same time, studying these phenomena offers valuable clues about the Moon’s interior, its thermal history and how geologically it is still “alive”.
Therefore, the Moon that we see in the sky every night is not a dead and immobile body.
It keeps changing, shrinking, and every now and then shaking.
This new vision, revealed by detailed mapping work, shows that our natural satellite holds surprises and challenges for the next generations of explorers.
Published in 02/23/2026 08h22
Text adapted by AI (Grok) and translated via Google API in the English version. Images from public image libraries or credits in the caption. Information about DOI, author and institution can be found in the body of the article.
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