quigley wrote:Please tell us how the Lunar Alpine Valley may have been formed. Also, what formed the winding riverbed type valleys? Did the smooth, lava-flooded Mare Imbrium form from the impact breaking the crust to the lava below?
One of the links had this to say -
Seen in this image, Vallis Alpes (Alpine Valley) is a spectacular feature that bisects the Montes Alpes range. This valley was discovered in 1727 by Francesco Bianchini. It extends 166 kilometres from Mare Imbrium, trending north-east to the edge of the Mare Frigoris (Sea of Cold). The valley is narrow at both ends and widens to about 10 kilometres across.
The valley floor is a flat, lava-flooded surface that has narrow sinous ‘rille’ running down the middle. It is generally considered to be a 'graben', an area between two parallel faults which has dropped below the surrounding area. This is believed to have formed after the formation of the basin, but before the full maria lava flows. The rille corresponds to a ‘lava tube’ formed in a later geological episode by high-speed and low viscosity magma.
"SMART-1 is studying the signature of violent processes that took place during the formation of these giant impact basins, as well as the sequence of late volcanic history over the lunar surface until 3000 million years ago,” said ESA’s SMART-1 Project Scientist Bernard Foing.
And this was a pretty cool video
Click to play embedded YouTube video.
[quote="quigley"]Please tell us how the Lunar Alpine Valley may have been formed. Also, what formed the winding riverbed type valleys? Did the smooth, lava-flooded Mare Imbrium form from the impact breaking the crust to the lava below?[/quote]
One of the links had this to say -
Seen in this image, Vallis Alpes (Alpine Valley) is a spectacular feature that bisects the Montes Alpes range. This valley was discovered in 1727 by Francesco Bianchini. It extends 166 kilometres from Mare Imbrium, trending north-east to the edge of the Mare Frigoris (Sea of Cold). The valley is narrow at both ends and widens to about 10 kilometres across.
The valley floor is a flat, lava-flooded surface that has narrow sinous ‘rille’ running down the middle. It is generally considered to be a 'graben', an area between two parallel faults which has dropped below the surrounding area. This is believed to have formed after the formation of the basin, but before the full maria lava flows. The rille corresponds to a ‘lava tube’ formed in a later geological episode by high-speed and low viscosity magma.
"SMART-1 is studying the signature of violent processes that took place during the formation of these giant impact basins, as well as the sequence of late volcanic history over the lunar surface until 3000 million years ago,” said ESA’s SMART-1 Project Scientist Bernard Foing.
And this was a pretty cool video
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=URaPPTCpRRE[/youtube]