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Lava tubes are natural conduits formed by flowing lava that is moving beneath the hardened surface as a result of a volcanic eruption. As the lava moves, the outer edges of it cool, forming a hardened, channel-like crust, which is left behind once the lava flow stops (Greeley 1971).
The formation of lunar lava tubes is often associated with the formation mechanism of sinuous rills (SRs). In essence, as an active lava flow, with sufficiently low viscosity, progresses along the lunar surface, a solid crust develops and thickens to form a roof due to radiating cooling driven by the high temperature gradient between the lava and the vacuum. As the lava continues to flow in the now closed channel, it eventually leaves an empty subsurface tube with a hardened roof (Chappaz et al. 2014).
Lava flowing across the Moon’s surface can harden into a protective shell. When the interior of the shell collapses, while the hollowed-out shell remains, a lunar lava tube is created that...
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Meng, Z. (2018). Lunar Lava Tubes. In: Cudnik, B. (eds) Encyclopedia of Lunar Science. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-05546-6_52-1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-05546-6_52-1
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