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Abstract

Using a novel pattern recognition algorithm, up to 50,000 new seismic events have been detected on the Moon over an 8-month period from newly rediscovered Apollo 17 seismic data. These events occur periodically, with a sharp double-peak at sunrise and a broad single-peak at sunset. Due to the proximity of the events to the Apollo 17 site, and the diurnal timing of the peaks, we interpret these events to be thermally-driven – caused by rapid heating and cooling of materials at the surface of the Moon as the sun passes overhead. Locating the source of these detected events is ongoing, and could be valuable for identifying which surface features are the source of the events. This will lead to a better understanding of the conditions under which they occur. This body of work is particularly relevant to studies of lunar regolith breakdown, because thermal seismic events at the surface of the Moon are an expression of an active degradational process.