Science News Desk – Scientists at the Physical Research Laboratory in Ahmedabad have found unique evidence of the process of Moon’s evolution. They found signs of a fundamental change in the melting process on the Moon between 3.9 and 3.3 billion years ago. New evidence suggests that the Moon’s interior may have been molten in the form of basaltic magmatism, which is evidence of thermal evolution. This evidence challenges the basalt samples brought to the Moon by the Apollo missions of the United States.
A team of scientists from India, the United States and Japan collected samples of the lunar meteorite Asuka-881757 (it was found in Antarctica in 1988), the lunar meteorite Kalahari-009 (it was found in the Kalahari Desert of South Africa in 1999) analyzed. ) and new evidence for the Moon’s evolution has been presented after studying samples collected by the Russian Luna-24 mission. Scientists have found from the study of old lunar meteorites that they contained very small amounts of KREEP (potassium, rare-earth elements and phosphorus). This suggests that these meteorites may have come from a different region on the Moon called the Procellarum Creep Terrain (PKT) and that there may be other ways to melt them on the Moon.
The information obtained from the discovery of scientists was published in the science journal ‘Nature’. Evidence from the mission provides information about the thermal evolution of the Moon. Scientists speculate that the main source of basalt may have been from molten magma on the Moon that initially solidified after melting. The Indian Space Research Organization believes that similar to other terrestrial bodies such as Earth and Mars, these basalts may have been melted due to low pressure in the Moon. This finding suggests that the Moon’s interior may have begun to undergo basalt magmatism 4.3–3.9 billion years ago, while the process began in the Piketi region 3.8–3.0 billion years ago.