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Science 27 May 1977:
Vol. 196. no. 4293, pp. 979 - 981
DOI: 10.1126/science.196.4293.979
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Articles

Moonquakes: Mechanisms and Relation to Tidal Stresses

M. NAFI TOKSÖZ 1, NEAL R. GOINS 1, and C. H. CHENG 1

1 Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge 02139

Observed features of moonquakes are combined with theoretical calculations of the tidal stresses to interpret the moonquake mechanisms. Tidal stresses, together with a postulated ambient tectonic stress, are sufficient to explain the depth, periodicity, and polarity reversal of moonquakes. Both of these stresses are small (on the order of 1 bar) and consistent with the small magnitudes of moonquakes.

Submitted on August 23, 1976
Revised on November 23, 1976

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Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)