Эрдэмтэд Сарны дотоод хэсэг хөрч агшсаны улмаас гадаргуу дээр нь үүссэн олон тооны хагарлыг судалгаагаар тогтоожээ.
Сарны дотоод бүтэц аажмаар хөрч, агшиж байгаа нь түүний гадаргуу дээр даралт үүсгэж, улмаар олон тооны хагарал үүсгэдэг болохыг шинэ судалгаагаар нотоллоо. The Planetary Science Journal сэтгүүлд 2026 оны аравдугаар сарын 14-нд нийтлэгдсэн уг судалгаанд NASA-гийн Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera (LROC)-ийн тусламжтайгаар авсан зургуудыг ашиглан Сарны гадаргуу дахь 10,000 гаруй залуу хагарлыг зураглажээ. Судалгааны үр дүнгээс үзвэл, Сарны радиус сүүлийн 400-800 сая жилийн хугацаанд ойролцоогоор 45 метрээр багассан байна.
Судлаачид Сарны гадаргуу дээрх “lobate scarps” буюу нуман хэлбэрийн эгц газар болон “small mare ridges” буюу далайн жижиг нуруудыг судалсан байна. Эдгээр бүтэц нь Сарны царцдас шахагдах үед үүсдэг бөгөөд хэрэв агшилтын хурд тогтмол байсан бол Сар жилд дунджаар 0.1 микрометрээр агшиж байгаа гэсэн тооцоо гарчээ. Энэ нь Дэлхийн тектоникийн хавтангуудын жилийн хөдөлгөөнтэй харьцуулахад маш удаан үзэгдэл юм.
Smithsonian-ийн Үндэсний агаар, сансрын музейн эрдэмтэн Томас Р. Уоттерсийн тайлбарласнаар, Сарны зузаан, сүвэрхэг царцдас нь тусгаарлагчийн үүрэг гүйцэтгэж, дотоод дулааныг хадгалснаар агших үйл явцыг удаашруулсан байх магадлалтай аж. Дэлхий олон тектоникийн хавтантай бол Сар нь нэг бүхэл бүтэн гаднах бүрхүүлтэй учир хагарал нь гадаргуу даяар тархсан байдаг. Энэхүү олон тооны хагарал нь Сарны гадаргуу дээрх чичирхийлэл буюу “moonquakes”-ийн гол шалтгаан болдог бөгөөд эдгээр хагарал цаашид ч үргэлжлэн үүсэх төлөвтэй байна.
Дэлгэрэнгүйг эх сурвалжаас харах
↓Эх сурвалжийг нээх ↓
The moon is slowly getting smaller, and scientists now have a clearer idea of just how much. A new study has identified more than 10,000 young faults across its surface, revealing that the moon’s radius has shrunk by about 148 feet (45 meters) over the past 400 million to 800 million years.
The findings, published on October 14, 2026, in The Planetary Science Journal, shed new light on a process that has been unfolding for hundreds of millions of years. As it interior gradually cools, it contracts, putting pressure on the crust and creating faults that can still be seen today.
The research was led by a team that used images captured by NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera (LROC) to map these faults across the moon’s highlands and dark volcanic plains.
Our Moon Is Smaller Than It Used To Be
The researchers focused on two types of surface features: lobate scarps and small mare ridges. Both form when the lunar crust is squeezed as the interior cools and contracts. By studying thousands of these features, the team estimated that the moon’s radius has decreased by approximately 45 meters over the past 400 million to 800 million years.
The paper said that if the contraction rate has remained constant, it has been shrinking by around 6 to 11 centimeters every million years. That works out to roughly 0.1 micrometers per year.
For comparison, Earth’s tectonic plates move at an average rate of about 1.5 centimeters per year, roughly the same speed at which fingernails grow. And there’s another major difference between the two worlds.
Earth has more than 15 tectonic plates, while the moon’s outer shell behaves as one continuous plate. Instead of being concentrated along plate boundaries, faults caused by lunar contraction are spread across the surface.
Why Lunar Faults Vary?
The researchers discovered that areas with the thickest lunar crust tend to have the fewest faults. These regions may therefore be among the most stable parts of the moon. But the study also raises another question: Why didn’t widespread contractional faulting happen much earlier in lunar history?
As the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum reported, the moon has a thick, heavily fractured and porous crust that may have acted like an insulating blanket around its interior. By trapping heat, this outer layer could have slowed the cooling process and delayed the contraction that eventually produced so many faults.
It’s a possible explanation for why widespread faulting appears to have developed relatively late in the silver orb’s history, rather than during its earliest stages.
The Moon Is Still Active
The discovery also has implications for moonquakes, which can occur when existing faults slip or new faults form. On Earth, around 90% of tectonic and seismic activity is concentrated near plate boundaries. It doesn’t have those boundaries, meaning fault-related moonquakes can occur across its surface. And the number of faults scientists have now identified is much higher than expected.
“The number of these young faults revealed in LROC images is much greater than I ever imagined,” Thomas R. Watters, scientist emeritus in the Center for Earth and Planetary Studies at the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum, said.
The Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter has been circling the moon for approximately 17 years, collecting millions of images that have helped researchers identify these small geological structures. Those observations have revealed just how widespread the signs of contraction really are.
“As the interior of the moon continues to cool and contract, it is expected that the growth of existing faults and formation of new faults continues today,” he added.
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