Re: Does the moon have caves?

Does the Moon have caves?

This is an excellent question - one that we don't know a definite answer to, since humans have only landed on the Moon 6 times. Also, these 6 landings allowed astronauts to explore only a very small amount of area on the surface. More exploration is needed in order to determine whether or not caves do exist on the Moon. A cave is a naturally occurring open space that is found underground. There are four major types of caves found on the Earth:

1. Solution caves - formed in limestone and similar rocks when water dissolves the surrounding material, leaving behind caves. Solution caves are the most common type of cave found on the Earth.

2. Sea caves - formed by the erosional action of waves against the shore rock

3. Glacier caves - formed by melt water inside of surrounding ice.

4. Lava caves - tunnels or tubes in lava that are formed when the outer surface of the lava flow cools and hardens while the molten lava within continues to flow. This lava drains out through the tube, leaving behind caves and tunnels.

There is no water on the Moon, so no solution caves, sea caves, or glacier caves can be formed. Volcanism does occur, however, so it could be possible to find caves in lunar lava tubes. Sinuous rilles are features found on the Moon that are believed to be lava channels and lava tubes. These would be good places to look for caves on the Moon.

For more information about caves on the Earth, take a look at these websites:
Geology of Caves - U.S. Geological Survey http://wrgis.wr.usgs.gov/docs/usgsnps/cave/cave.html
How are caves formed? - Newton?s Apple http://www.eecs.umich.edu/mathscience/funexperiments/agesubject/lessons/newton/spelunk01.html