Moon's two hidden canyons deeper than the Grand Canyon formed at bullet speed by lunar rocks

An orbital view of two vast lunar canyons extending from the Schrödinger impact basin near the Moon’s south pole on the far side. The perspective is angled, resembling what an astronaut would see when approaching in a spacecraft. (Image: NASA)

Two massive lunar canyons were formed in under 10 minutes, according to new research. These canyons are deeper than Earth's Grand Canyon and were shaped by intense rock floods moving at bullet-like speeds.

Lunar Canyons Rival Grand Canyon in Size and Depth
The canyons, Vallis Schrödinger and Vallis Planck, measure 167 miles (270 km) and 1.7 miles (2.7 km) deep, and 174 miles (280 km) and 2.2 miles (3.5 km) deep, respectively. The Grand Canyon is 277 miles (446 km) long and 1.2 miles (1.9 km) deep.

David Kring, a geologist at the Lunar and Planetary Institute, commented on the lunar landscape's grandeur. “Mountains on the Moon exceed Mt. Everest, and canyons surpass the Grand Canyon," he said. "Future lunar explorers will be in awe.”

A view of two vast lunar canyons extending from the Schrödinger impact basin near the moon's south pole on the far side. This perspective is from orbit, looking directly down at the moon's surface. (Image: NASA)

How the Canyons Formed
The canyons are located near Schrödinger basin, a 200-mile-wide crater formed by a cosmic impact about 3.81 billion years ago. The impact occurred near the South Pole–Aitken basin, Earth's largest and oldest remaining impact crater.

Kring and his team used images from NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter to study the canyons' origins. They found that rock debris was expelled from the impact at speeds of 2,125 to 2,860 mph (3,420 to 4,600 km/h). In comparison, a bullet from a 9mm Luger handgun travels around 1,360 mph (2,200 km/h).

The energy required to create the canyons is estimated to be 130 times greater than the world’s nuclear weapons inventory. “The canyons formed in minutes due to rock streams, unlike the Grand Canyon, which took millions of years,” Kring said.

Importance for Future Moon Missions
Kring believes the less covered areas around the South Pole–Aitken basin could make it easier for future lunar astronauts to collect ancient moon samples.

These findings were published on February 4 in Nature Communications.