FastFind »   Lastname: doi:10.1029/ Year: Advanced Search  

AGU: Geophysical Research Letters

 

Keywords

  • Moon
  • lavatube
  • sinuous rille

Index Terms

  • Planetary Sciences: Solar System Objects: Moon
  • Planetary Sciences: Solid Surface Planets: Volcanism
  • Planetary Sciences: Solid Surface Planets: Remote sensing

Abstract

Possible lunar lava tube skylight observed by SELENE cameras

Junichi Haruyama

ISAS, JAXA, Sagamihara, Japan

Kazuyuki Hioki

NTT DATA CCS Corporation, Tokyo, Japan

Motomaro Shirao

Tokyo, Japan

Tomokatsu Morota

ISAS, JAXA, Sagamihara, Japan

Harald Hiesinger

Institut für Planetologie, Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität, Münster, Germany

Carolyn H. van der Bogert

Institut für Planetologie, Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität, Münster, Germany

Hideaki Miyamoto

University Museum, University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan

Akira Iwasaki

Research Center for Advanced Science and Technology, University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan

Yasuhiro Yokota

ISAS, JAXA, Sagamihara, Japan

Makiko Ohtake

ISAS, JAXA, Sagamihara, Japan

Tsuneo Matsunaga

Center for Global Environmental Research, NIES, Tsukuba, Japan

Seiichi Hara

NTT DATA CCS Corporation, Tokyo, Japan

Shunsuke Nakanotani

Mitsubishi Space Software Co., Ltd., Tsukuba, Japan

Carle M. Pieters

Department of Geological Sciences, Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island, USA

We discovered a vertical hole on the Moon, which is a possible lava tube skylight, using data from SELENE's two high-resolution cameras: the Terrain Camera and the Multi-band Imager. The hole is nearly circular, 65 m in diameter, and located in a sinuous rille at the Marius Hills region, a volcanic province on the lunar nearside. We observed the hole at various solar illumination conditions and estimated its depth to be 80 to 88 m. The depth/diameter ratio is much larger than for typical impact craters. There are neither conspicuous deposits indicating volcanic eruptions from the hole, nor are there pit craters adjacent to the hole that could be related to an underlying fault or dike. The area around the hole is covered by a thin (20 to 25 m) lava sheet, which may help protect the lava tube from collapse due to meteorite bombardment.

Received 20 August 2009; accepted 13 October 2009; published 12 November 2009.

Citation: Haruyama, J., et al. (2009), Possible lunar lava tube skylight observed by SELENE cameras, Geophys. Res. Lett., 36, L21206, doi:10.1029/2009GL040635.

Cited By

Please wait one moment ...