Chinese scientists have discovered that magma activities existed on the far side of the moon between 4.2 and 2.8 billion years ago, lasting for at least 1.4 billion years.
Publish dateMonday 18 November 2024 - 23:42
According to Amac News: Two related studies based on samples retrieved from the lunar far side by the Chang'e 6 mission were simultaneously published in the international scientific journals Nature and Science.
China Daily reported that this discovery enhances our understanding of the moon's evolution. Li Qiuli, a professor at the Institute of Geology and Geophysics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, stated that uncovering the volcanic history of the far side of the moon is crucial for understanding the hemispheric dichotomy of the moon.
Previously, scientific understanding of the lunar far side was primarily based on remote sensing studies. In June, China's Chang'e 6 lunar probe returned nearly 2 kilograms of samples to Earth for the first time. These samples were collected from the South Pole-Aitken Basin, the largest, deepest, and oldest basin on the moon.
Since 2021, Chinese scientists have used lunar soil samples returned by the Chang'e 5 mission to demonstrate that significant magma activity existed on the near side of the moon 2 billion years ago, with minor volcanic activity persisting as recently as 120 million years ago.
In a study published on Friday in Nature, a research team from the Institute of Geology and Geophysics and the National Astronomical Observatory of the Chinese Academy of Sciences demonstrated magma activity on the lunar far side from 4.2 billion years ago to 2.8 billion years ago through dating research on 108 basaltic rock fragments from 5-gram lunar soils.
A study published in Science, conducted by a team led by Xu Yigang, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and a researcher at the Guangzhou Institute of Geochemistry, also confirmed magma activity on the lunar far side 2.8 billion years ago.
This study further indicates that the eruption of lunar mare basalt is influenced by the internal composition of the moon, explaining why the South Pole-Aitken Basin on the lunar far side lacks abundant volcanic activity.
China Daily reported that this discovery enhances our understanding of the moon's evolution. Li Qiuli, a professor at the Institute of Geology and Geophysics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, stated that uncovering the volcanic history of the far side of the moon is crucial for understanding the hemispheric dichotomy of the moon.
Previously, scientific understanding of the lunar far side was primarily based on remote sensing studies. In June, China's Chang'e 6 lunar probe returned nearly 2 kilograms of samples to Earth for the first time. These samples were collected from the South Pole-Aitken Basin, the largest, deepest, and oldest basin on the moon.
Since 2021, Chinese scientists have used lunar soil samples returned by the Chang'e 5 mission to demonstrate that significant magma activity existed on the near side of the moon 2 billion years ago, with minor volcanic activity persisting as recently as 120 million years ago.
In a study published on Friday in Nature, a research team from the Institute of Geology and Geophysics and the National Astronomical Observatory of the Chinese Academy of Sciences demonstrated magma activity on the lunar far side from 4.2 billion years ago to 2.8 billion years ago through dating research on 108 basaltic rock fragments from 5-gram lunar soils.
A study published in Science, conducted by a team led by Xu Yigang, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and a researcher at the Guangzhou Institute of Geochemistry, also confirmed magma activity on the lunar far side 2.8 billion years ago.
This study further indicates that the eruption of lunar mare basalt is influenced by the internal composition of the moon, explaining why the South Pole-Aitken Basin on the lunar far side lacks abundant volcanic activity.
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Source : news agency wam
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