Keep reading to learn about the Moon’s wild geological past and what it teaches us about space.
Lunar samples tell a new story about the Moon
In December 2020, the Chinese rover Chang’e-5 traveled to the near side of the moon to sample rocks on the lunar surface. These rocks were brought to Earth carefully sealed in airtight capsules for contamination-free study. The stones found their way to the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), where they underwent extensive analysis. What scientists discovered after a preliminary study of the rocks sent their jaws to the floor. The rocks contained mineral signatures that indicated volcanoes erupted on the moon about a billion years more recently than previously thought. This represents a radical departure from previously studied moon rocks. (These samples came during the Apollo missions and had shown an earlier record of lunar volcanism.) Today’s researchers have published these findings in the journal Science Advances. Elevation map of the Moon locating the landing sites of successful sample return missions and the designated landing area of Chang’e 5. Credit: Kaynouky via Wikimedia (CC BY-SA 4.0) / NASA
Staying warm for billions of years
Researchers continue to work on how the moon retained enough heat to host a persistently flexible and plastic mantle. Today, the moon is considered volcanically dead. This is the result of billions of years of rapid cooling, making the moon’s mantle almost completely solidified. Once upon a time, scientists believed that the final cooling happened two billion years ago, but this new batch of rocks is forcing researchers to rethink everything. An essential unanswered question plagued the researchers as they analyzed the results of their studies of moon rocks. How could volcanic activity take place even after the mantle began to cool, to a large extent? The mineral composition of the rocks analyzed provided the answer: The samples contained higher levels of titanium dioxide and calcium oxide, translating to lower melting temperatures. The study’s first author, Dr. Su Bin, notes, “We found that the Chang’e-5 magma was produced at similar depths but 80 degrees Celsius cooler than older Apollo magmas.” What is the result of this discovery? This study will contribute to the first explicable mechanism for late-stage lunar volcanism. Scientists involved in the study hope it will also have applications when it comes to improving our understanding of the moon’s magmatic and thermal evolution. By Engrid Barnett, Contributor for Ripleys.com
EXPLORE THE PERFORMANCE FOR YOURSELF!
Discover hundreds of strange and unusual artifacts and get incredible interactive items when you visit a Ripley’s Odditorium! FIND AN ATTRACTION NEAR YOU Source: Volcanic Activity on the Moon; It’s more recent than you think from Ripley’s Believe It or Not!
