The Seismically Active Lobate Scarps and Coseismic Lunar Boulder Avalanches Triggered by 3 January 1975 (MW 4.1) Shallow Moonquake
Abstract On 3 January 1975, the largest shallow moonquake (MW 4.1) occurred at Laue impact crater on the Moon. The fault responsible for the moonquake and origins of coseismic boulder avalanches are unknown. Our study reveals a set of previously unreported, seismically active, young lobate scarps ne...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Wiley
2019-07-01
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| Series: | Geophysical Research Letters |
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| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1029/2019GL083580 |
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| author | P. Senthil Kumar Rupali Mohanty K. Jaya Prasanna Lakshmi S. T. G. Raghukanth Anjali C. Dabhu R. P. Rajasekhar Rajeev Menon |
| author_facet | P. Senthil Kumar Rupali Mohanty K. Jaya Prasanna Lakshmi S. T. G. Raghukanth Anjali C. Dabhu R. P. Rajasekhar Rajeev Menon |
| author_sort | P. Senthil Kumar |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract On 3 January 1975, the largest shallow moonquake (MW 4.1) occurred at Laue impact crater on the Moon. The fault responsible for the moonquake and origins of coseismic boulder avalanches are unknown. Our study reveals a set of previously unreported, seismically active, young lobate scarps near the epicenter. In addition, hundreds of boulder falls are observed on the interior walls of two impact craters on either side of the lobate scarps. The varying preservation levels and crater size‐frequency distributions of impact craters superimposed on the boulder falls indicate their episodic origins at 1.6 Ma and during the 1975 shallow moonquake. Our ground motion simulations confirm that the MW 4.1 moonquake along the lobate scarp at 1‐ to 5‐km focal depths produced strong ground shaking that triggered the boulder avalanches. Also, the fault slip along the Lorentz basin wall beneath the Laue crater floor produced the lobate scarps and the shallow moonquakes. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-e524fa27d50a4fb09f346ff69096af30 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 0094-8276 1944-8007 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2019-07-01 |
| publisher | Wiley |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Geophysical Research Letters |
| spelling | doaj-art-e524fa27d50a4fb09f346ff69096af302025-08-20T03:44:57ZengWileyGeophysical Research Letters0094-82761944-80072019-07-0146147972798110.1029/2019GL083580The Seismically Active Lobate Scarps and Coseismic Lunar Boulder Avalanches Triggered by 3 January 1975 (MW 4.1) Shallow MoonquakeP. Senthil Kumar0Rupali Mohanty1K. Jaya Prasanna Lakshmi2S. T. G. Raghukanth3Anjali C. Dabhu4R. P. Rajasekhar5Rajeev Menon6CSIR‐National Geophysical Research Institute Hyderabad IndiaCSIR‐National Geophysical Research Institute Hyderabad IndiaCSIR‐National Geophysical Research Institute Hyderabad IndiaIndian Institute of Technology Madras Chennai IndiaIndian Institute of Technology Madras Chennai IndiaISRO‐Space Applications Centre Ahmedabad IndiaCSIR‐National Geophysical Research Institute Hyderabad IndiaAbstract On 3 January 1975, the largest shallow moonquake (MW 4.1) occurred at Laue impact crater on the Moon. The fault responsible for the moonquake and origins of coseismic boulder avalanches are unknown. Our study reveals a set of previously unreported, seismically active, young lobate scarps near the epicenter. In addition, hundreds of boulder falls are observed on the interior walls of two impact craters on either side of the lobate scarps. The varying preservation levels and crater size‐frequency distributions of impact craters superimposed on the boulder falls indicate their episodic origins at 1.6 Ma and during the 1975 shallow moonquake. Our ground motion simulations confirm that the MW 4.1 moonquake along the lobate scarp at 1‐ to 5‐km focal depths produced strong ground shaking that triggered the boulder avalanches. Also, the fault slip along the Lorentz basin wall beneath the Laue crater floor produced the lobate scarps and the shallow moonquakes.https://doi.org/10.1029/2019GL083580shallow moonquakelobate scarpsboulder fallsrecent seismicityseismic ground motionseismo‐tectonics |
| spellingShingle | P. Senthil Kumar Rupali Mohanty K. Jaya Prasanna Lakshmi S. T. G. Raghukanth Anjali C. Dabhu R. P. Rajasekhar Rajeev Menon The Seismically Active Lobate Scarps and Coseismic Lunar Boulder Avalanches Triggered by 3 January 1975 (MW 4.1) Shallow Moonquake Geophysical Research Letters shallow moonquake lobate scarps boulder falls recent seismicity seismic ground motion seismo‐tectonics |
| title | The Seismically Active Lobate Scarps and Coseismic Lunar Boulder Avalanches Triggered by 3 January 1975 (MW 4.1) Shallow Moonquake |
| title_full | The Seismically Active Lobate Scarps and Coseismic Lunar Boulder Avalanches Triggered by 3 January 1975 (MW 4.1) Shallow Moonquake |
| title_fullStr | The Seismically Active Lobate Scarps and Coseismic Lunar Boulder Avalanches Triggered by 3 January 1975 (MW 4.1) Shallow Moonquake |
| title_full_unstemmed | The Seismically Active Lobate Scarps and Coseismic Lunar Boulder Avalanches Triggered by 3 January 1975 (MW 4.1) Shallow Moonquake |
| title_short | The Seismically Active Lobate Scarps and Coseismic Lunar Boulder Avalanches Triggered by 3 January 1975 (MW 4.1) Shallow Moonquake |
| title_sort | seismically active lobate scarps and coseismic lunar boulder avalanches triggered by 3 january 1975 mw 4 1 shallow moonquake |
| topic | shallow moonquake lobate scarps boulder falls recent seismicity seismic ground motion seismo‐tectonics |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1029/2019GL083580 |
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