“China’s SHRIMP Time Machine: Unlocking the Secrets of the Moon’s Volcanic History”

In 2020, the Chinese lunar mission Chang’e 5 reached the earth with about two kilos of soil and rocks from the moon. Liu Dunyi and his team at the Life Science Park in Beijing obtained just two grams from this rare collection for study. Although this sample was very small, Liu and his team were able to make several important findings with it. After estimating the age of the lunar crater in which this rock lay, Shrimp found that the moon had been active volcanoes for a hundred billion years longer than previously thought.

SHRIMP, a machine developed by Australian researchers, helped Chinese researchers make this crucial discovery. The shrimp is a ‘time machine’ that helps in determining the age with extreme accuracy. China has two of the world’s 20 Sensitive High Resolution Iron Microprobes (SHRIMP). It is considered the most reliable tool for dating rocks and soils. Shrimp is also distinguished by the fact that a very small amount of sample is sufficient.

Accurate dating is critical to 90 percent of geological research. Liu learned about shrimp technology while studying at the Australian National University in the 1980s. Liu’s research chief Prof. This device was built by Bill Compston. A 410 million year old object was identified using this technique. In 1992, using the same instrument, Liu and his team identified the oldest rock in China (3.8 billion years).

The Shrimp is a large device measuring seven meters. Another curiosity is that this device is shaped like a shrimp. Check shrimp mainly for the mineral zircon. Zircon is a mineral that melts only at very high temperatures and can even survive volcanic eruptions. Therefore, the scientific world can measure the age of rocks by looking at zircon, just like measuring the age of trees with tree rings.

Radioactive elements such as uranium and thorium are also incorporated into zircon as it crystallizes. These elements break down into isotopes in precise amounts over time. Older rocks contain less uranium.

Shrimp machines were installed in China in 2001 and 2013. Liu says China has an open approach to using these tools. Chinese researchers collect data on shrimp only 30 percent of the time. The rest of the time researchers from any part of the world can use this machine. SHRIMP can provide 6,300 hours of research data per year

In 2019, Australian Scientific Instruments and ANU transferred the rights to manufacture and sell the shrimp to a company led by Liu. Liu and his team are working to launch Chinese-made shrimp soon.

English Summary: The time machine taking China’s earth scientists back through the dust of the distant past