Giant Lunar Canyons Deeper Than the Grand Canyon Formed in Minutes

A new study reveals two gigantic canyons on the moon, both exceeding the Grand Canyon in depth, were carved in under 10 minutes by rock floods traveling at bullet speeds. Vallis Schrödinger and Vallis Planck measure 270 km and 280 km long, and 2.7 km and 3.5 km deep respectively, dwarfing the Grand Canyon's 446 km length and 1.9 km depth. Analysis of NASA Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter images shows these canyons resulted from a massive impact 3.81 billion years ago, with debris hurtling at 3,420-4,600 km/h – over 130 times the energy of the world's nuclear arsenal. This discovery offers crucial insights for future lunar missions, particularly in understanding the Moon's early geological history.