The moon that has accompanied our land since its childhood is generally considered geologically dead for a long time. A new study now questions this conclusion in question; It finally seems that she was still active much more recently than we thought so far.
Our good old blue planet is part of the geologically active celestial bodies. This means that his bowels are full of residual heat, produced during the extremely energetic accretion episode that led to his training. Since then, this internal heat has manifested regularly through phenomena such as volcanism; Each eruption is indisputable proof that our planet is geologically active.
On the moon, however, no one has ever observed the slightest live volcanic eruption. However, we know that the situation was very different ”several billion years ago. We know for example that the lunar seas, like the famous sea of tranquility, are covered with a thick layer of basalt equipment which corresponds to solidified lava. Planetologists have also identified large rocky ridges on the visible side of the moon; In all likelihood, they were formed by compression events vaguely comparable to what tectonics of land plates produce.
But all these geological remains go back to two or three billion years, and the situation does not seem to have evolved much between this era and ours. We therefore consider that the moon is more or less geologically dead.
But here it is: what they know from the geological history of the Moon, the planetologists have especially learned it by studying its sterile surface, either from the orbit, or directly from the surface thanks to missions like Apollo 11. means that important context elements could still hide in the depths – and this is precisely what three American geologists suggest in a new study.
Geological structures 20 times more recent than expected
In their paper, they explain that they have reviewed 266 rocky ridges previously unknown, all located on the hidden side of the moon. At first glance, they don’t have much very interesting; They are indeed located in a region which formed just over 3 billion years ago. Intuitively, one might think that these ridges date from this time.
By acquiring of consciousness, the trio sought to verify this information using a well -known method: Cortere counting. Indeed, since the moon is devoid of a dense atmosphere like that of the earth, it is constantly pounded by many asteroids which grow regularly on the surface, leaving behind visible craters. The more time passes, the more many they become; By extension, the older one surface, the more it is generally studded with craters (unless another geological phenomenon has changed the structure of the terrain later). In summary, we can determine the age of a given region with good precision by analyzing the properties (number, size, etc.) of these craters using statistical models.
At the end of their analysis, the researchers found that the density of the craters is surprisingly weak in the area around these ridges. By applying the statistical tools mentioned above, they even deduced that the rock was barely 160 million years old! This very strongly suggests that the moon had tectonic processes, and therefore that it was still geologically active, much more recently than we thought.
Interesting data for astronauts
It will be very interesting to see if future studies will be able to establish a link between these structures and the different types of moonquakesthese tremors which regularly roam the surface of the moon. But in addition to offering us new elements of context on the history of our satellite, these works could also have very concrete implications. The authors mention in particular the importance of knowing the vagaries of lunar geology to ensure the smooth running of future exploration and colonization missions.
« We hope that future missions to the Moon will include tools such as the soil penetration radar, so that researchers can better understand structures below the lunar surface “Explains Jaclyn Clark, co-author of the study. “” Knowing that the Moon is still geologically dynamic has very real implications on the place where we plan to place our astronauts, our equipment and our infrastructures on the moon “, She concludes.
The study text is available here.
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