formed volcanically, then perhaps other craters were as well. 2. Lunar Rilles A lunar rille is a canyon on the moon that was likely carved by a flow of lava across the surface of the Moon. Note that these are not thermal expansion cracks like those discussed previously, but instead bear all the marks of being carved by a rapidly flowing fluid. Some rilles are very large, several kilometers across. While some rilles have been degraded since their formation, and their origin point is now unknown, many rilles clearly originate from craters. It appears as though the heat from a plume of rising magma first caused an explosion to form the crater, and then as it continued rising, it filled the newly formed crater and overtopped it, causing rapid draining of the newly filled crater as the overtopping lava quickly eroded the side of the new, unconsolidated crater wall. This rapid outflow of lava was able to then carve a large channel in the surface of the moon. Something very similar happened at the Taum Sauk pumped storage pond in Missouri. Once the water overtopped a low spot in the wall, the water drained catastrophically creating a channel where it Figure 13. Irregular Lunar Mare Patches Figure 14. Map of Irregular Lunar Mare Patch Locations STERNBERG Craters and cracks 2023 ICC 22
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MTM4ODY=