In their research, the scientists wrote, around 100 million years after the formation of the solar system, when the planets had formed, it is estimated that an object the size of Mars hit Earth, ejecting a large amount of material which eventually became the moon. The energy involved in the impact caused the surface to initially melt, but as the moon’s magma ocean cooled, the material solidified.
One of the crucial findings is that the crystals examined in this study are thought to have formed during this cooling process. This means that its composition gives researchers the opportunity to investigate the age of the crystals, and also the age of the moon itself.
However, determining this is very difficult. Some research regarding lunar material and modeling suggests that the moon is about 4.42 billion years old, however study Recent research on these crystals suggests that the moon may be even older.
Now researchers say a new analysis technique has emerged to confirm that the crystals formed in the distant past.
This approach, known as atomic probe tomography, involves using lasers to vaporize atoms from crystals that have been honed down to extremely fine “nano-tips.” The masses of these atoms can then be detected and the proportions of different types of uranium and lead atoms – known as isotopes – can be measured. Because uranium turns into lead over time through radioactive decay, this proportion can explain how old the crystal is.
As a result, scientists revealed that these crystals, as well as our satellite, appear to be at least 4.46 billion years old. The results of this research were published in the journal Geochemical Perspectives Letters.
“This finding pushes back the age of the first preserved lunar crust by 40 million years and provides a minimum formation age for the moon of 110 million years after the formation of the solar system,” the team wrote.
The scientists think the crystal samples yielding this younger age conclusion could be due to the loss of lead in the material after crystallization, thus distorting the resulting date.
Dr Romain Tartèse from the University of Manchester, who was not involved in the research, welcomed the research. “This suggests that the moon is at least 4.46 billion years old, which contradicts some recent proposals regarding the formation of young moons,” he said.
This revelation, he added, suggests that a major impact with the moon’s origin Earth likely occurred several tens of millions of years before that point.
According to Tartèse, this finding also shows that the theory of a major impact (Giant Impact Hypothesis) between Earth and a planet the size of Mars, which has long been believed to be the origin of the moon, most likely occurred several tens of millions of years before that point.
However, Tartèse noted that the study assumes that the findings from the Apollo samples apply to the entire moon, which may not be the case.
“This underscores the importance of returning further samples from different regions of the moon through future missions,” he said.
“This study also shows the enormous benefits of sample return missions and proper curation,” said Tartèse. “More than 50 years after these samples were returned, we are still making important discoveries about the moon and the interior of the solar system as technology advances.”
2023-10-29 01:13:03
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