Have you ever looked up at the night sky and wondered about the mysteries of the moon? Scientists have been doing this for decades, and the recent discoveries about lunar volcanoes are quite exciting. There was active volcanic activity on the moon in the past, and the evidence for this can be traced geologically. However, the chronology of these volcanic events was unknown until recently.

Now, a team of dedicated researchers led by Professor LI Qiuli from the Institute of Geology and Geophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences (IGGCAS) has made an interesting discovery. Professor LI Qiuli’s lab discovered three volcanic glass balls while examining lunar soil samples collected by the Chang’e-5 mission.

Interestingly, these beads were formed 123±15 million years ago, making them the most recent examples of lunar volcanism confirmed by radioisotope dating. This finding was highlighted in a recent publication. Science.

Echoes of lunar volcanoes

Dating lunar volcanic basalt samples collected by the Apollo and Moon missions, or samples that arrived on Earth via lunar meteorites, has shown that lunar basalt volcanism existed until about 2.9–2.8 billion years ago. However, recent analysis of lunar samples from the Chang’e-5 mission indicates that basaltic volcanism existed at least 2.0 billion years ago.

Remote observations

Remote sensing observations point to the possibility of even younger volcanism on the Moon during the late Copernican period (less than 0.8 billion years ago), but these observations remain dubious because no precise dating has been established.

An additional problem is that the proposed Late Copernican mare basalt extrusions are distributed over limited areas and that samples cannot be taken from these areas.

Solving the clues

The eruption of gas-enriched magma can create magma fountains and disperse submillimeter glass bead deposits over large areas. Eventually, these beads may move further across the Moon’s surface due to the impact. These small volcanic glasses may not be detectable in existing samples.

WANG Biwen, graduate student, Prof. LI Qiuli and HE Yuyang, together with postdoctoral researcher ZHANG QIAN, carefully examined approximately 3,000 glass beads in lunar soil samples.

Based on their texture, elemental and trace element composition, and in situ sulfur isotope analysis, they identified three volcanic glass beads. Interestingly, the δ34S values ​​of the three volcanic glass beads do not match those of the impacted glass beads. This discrepancy provides the researchers with a selection criterion to separate volcanic from impacted glass. Using uranium-lead, the team concluded that these volcanic glass beads were formed 123±15 million years ago.

Consequences of the discovery of young volcanism

The discovery of younger volcanic material on the Moon is changing our understanding of its geological history. We thought the Moon had cooled and was mostly inactive, but recently discovered volcanic glass beads suggest volcanic activity may have lasted longer than we thought.

This new understanding opens up exciting questions about the Moon’s temperature and volcanic history, and what this might mean for future eruptions. Understanding these processes not only helps us learn more about the Moon, but also provides clues about the other planets and how they formed over time in our solar system.

Deep implications for lunar history

Radioisotope dating of these three Chang’e-5 volcanic glass balls sheds light on lunar volcanoes that are 120 million years old, suggesting that small celestial bodies like the Moon may have retained enough heat to sustain internal life throughout their lifetimes.

These findings provide new constraints on geophysical models of the thermal history of the deep Moon. This impressive work was performed in a joint venture with Nanjing University and the State University of New York (SUNY) at Albany.

So the next time you look up into the moonlit sky, remember that there’s much more to see than meets the eye. Every celestial body has something fascinating to tell, and when science leads the way, there’s no end to the mysteries we can solve.