On 12th October 2011, user
kodemunkey posted some images of what he called a “flow channel” in the
Lunar Features - channels, cooling cracks, pits, domes thread.
Jules spotted that this was in fact the central rille in the
Vallis Alpes feature.
Vallis Alpes, also known as ‘Alpine Valley’, is a valley that runs north-east from the northeastern edge of Mare Imbrium and is about 170 kilometres in length and 10 kilometres across at its widest point. It cuts through
Montes Alpes, a mountain range that runs along the edge of Mare Imbrium. A narrow sinuous rille runs down the centre of the valley. The valley is probably a ‘graben’ which was flooded with lava after it formed. A good description of how this valley probably formed will be found in
The New Moon magazine article in the Useful Links below (see page 9).
Vallis Alpes overview
[NASA/USGS Lunar Orbiter Digitization Project]
One of the images of the rille that
kodemunkey posted:
A section of the rille close to the edge of Mare Imbrium
M113954681LEThe final two links in the following list contain images of the
Montes Alpes area which are worth a look.
Useful LinksVallis Alpes, LROC, 17 Dec 2009’Alpine’ landscape on the Moon“The New Moon” magazine, Dec 2007. A magazine of lunar topographic studies. See page 8. PDF format.
The New Moon, Dec 2007Large image of Vallis Alpes regionOverview of mountain ranges around Mare Imbrium:
The Moon on July 30, 2009
