Kring David A, Kallenborn Danielle P, Collins Gareth S
Lunar and Planetary Institute, Universities Space Research Association, 3600 Bay Area Blvd., Houston, TX, US.
Department of Earth Science and Engineering, Imperial College London, London, UK.
Nat Commun. 2025 Feb 4;16(1):1146. doi: 10.1038/s41467-024-55675-z.
High energy streams of rock ejected from the Schrödinger impact basin carved two canyons in the lunar crust that are comparable in size to the Grand Canyon of North America. Here we use photogeologic mapping of those canyons and related impact ejecta deposits to show the trajectory of the impacting asteroid or comet, which produced an asymmetrical pattern of crater excavation and transport of ejected debris. The flow directions of that ejected debris and the speed of its subsequent impact with the lunar surface are calculated, as is the energy that carved the canyons in less than ten minutes. The study implies that most of the excavated debris was ejected away from the lunar south pole, minimizing the amount of debris that covers the > 4 billion year old units that will be explored by Artemis astronauts.
从薛定谔撞击盆地喷出的高能岩流在月球地壳上刻蚀出两条峡谷，其规模可与北美大峡谷相媲美。在这里，我们利用这些峡谷及相关撞击喷出物沉积的摄影地质测绘来展示撞击小行星或彗星的轨迹，该轨迹产生了不对称的陨石坑挖掘模式以及喷出碎片的搬运情况。我们计算了喷出碎片的流动方向及其随后撞击月球表面的速度，以及在不到十分钟内刻蚀出这些峡谷的能量。该研究表明，大部分挖掘出的碎片被从月球南极喷出，从而将覆盖阿尔忒弥斯宇航员即将探索的超过40亿年历史单元的碎片量降至最低。
