50 years ago, NASA and Soviet Space Program conducted the first sample-return mission from The Moon. This included lunar rock brought back to Earth from the Apollo astronautsRobotic missions were used to obtain these data.
Analyzing these rocks revealed much about the Moon’s composition, formation and geological history. Scientists concluded that the rocks were formed by volcanic eruptions over 3 billion years ago.
There has been a resurgence of lunar exploration in recent years as NASA and other space agencies sent robotic missions to Moon (in preparation for crewed missions).
China, for example, has sent numerous orbiters, landingers, and rovers (including sample-return missions) to the Moon as part the Chang’e program.
A new studyThe planetary scientists of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) analysed samples taken by the Chang’e-5 Rover that were 2 billion years old.
Their research could give valuable insight into the nature of young volcanism that shaped the lunar surface.
A team from the Institute of Geology and Geophysics of Chinese Academy of Sciences (IGGCAS), led by Su Bin, Yuan Jiangyan, and Chen Yi – members of the IGGCAS Laboratory of LIthospheric Evolution and Earth and Planetary Physics.
Researchers from Nanjing University’s Lunar and Planetary Science Institute and the CAS Center for Excellence in Comparative Planetology joined them. Their findings were described in a paper published in the journal. Science AdvancesOn 21 October.
Scientists have concluded that the Moon is geologically dead since the Apollo and Luna missions.
However, the Chang’e-5 mission returned 2 billion year old samples of lunar rock to Earth, which indicates that volcanic activity has been ongoing for at least a billion more years than previously thought.
The Moon was a small, rocky body so the heat that caused volcanism should have been lost long ago.
Scientists had previously speculated that late stage volcanism could have been caused by an increase in water content or radioactive elements decomposing in the lunar mantle. This consensus has been ruled out by many analyses of samples taken by the Chang’e-5 rover.
The CAS researchers discovered that minerals with low melting points in the mantle may have allowed for compression. This could have led to young volcanism. Prof. Chen ExplainedA recent CAS statement:
He said that recent melting of the lunar mantle could be accomplished by raising or lowering its melting point. To better understand the problem, it is important to determine the temperature and pressure at which young volcanism was formed.
The CAS team ran fractional crystallization, lunar mantle melting and a series of simulations. They compared 27 basalt clasts returned by the Chang’e-5 missions to the Apollo ones.
The young magma samples contained higher levels of calcium oxide and titanium dioxide than the older Apollo magma.
The presence of these minerals, which are more easily melted than earlier mineral cumulates in the lunar mantle, means that volcanism would have been gravitationally-driven and caused material in the mantle to overturn.
Their analysis showed that compression of the mantle could have occurred at similar depths, but at cooler temperatures, which would still have produced volcanoes.
This research is similar to what planetary scientists know about MarsIn recent years. It was a billion years agoThe red planet had There have been thousands of volcanic eruptionsSome of these eruptions resulted in some of the most powerful volcanoes in our Solar System (like Olympus Mons).
Scientists believed that Mars would become geologically dead when its interior cooled. However, recent research suggests that it could still experience a variety of geological phenomena. limited volcanic activity.
This study is the first to provide a plausible explanation for the Moon’s young volcanism, which is compatible with the Chang’e-5 rover’s sample returns.
This study could be used to inform future planetary studies on the Moon’s geological and thermal evolution.
Dr. Su Clearly indicated:
This is an amazing result that indicates a significant contribution by late-stage lunar magma to the Chang’e-5 volcano formation. The Chang’e-5’s magma was found to have been produced at the same depths as older Apollo magmas, but at 80 degrees Celsius lower temperatures. This means that the lunar mantle was subject to a slow, sustained cooling of 80 degrees Celsius over a period of 3 billion years to around 2 billion years.
This article was first published by Universe Today. Learn more Original article.
