During the last manned moonwalk mission, Apollo 17 in 1972, American astronauts Harrison Schmitt and Eugene Cernan collected approximately 110.4 kilograms of rock and soil samples that were brought to Earth for further study.
Half a century later, zircon crystals inside a piece of igneous rock collected by Schmidt revealed evidence that allowed scientists to gain a deeper understanding of the moon’s composition and precise age.
Scientists said on Monday that the moon is about 40 million years older than previously thought, as it was formed more than 4.46 billion years ago, that is, within 110 million years of the birth of the solar system, based on crystallographic analyses.
The main hypothesis for the moon’s formation is that during the chaotic early history of the solar system, a Mars-sized body called Theia collided with the primordial Earth. From there, magma, molten rock, exploded into space, forming a disk of debris that orbited Earth and merged with the Moon. But it is difficult to determine the exact time of formation of the moon.
Mineral crystals were able to form after the magma cooled and solidified. The researchers used a method called atomic probe tomography to confirm the age of the zircon crystals, which were formed after the giant impact.
“I like the fact that this study was done on a sample that was collected and brought to Earth 51 years ago. At that time, atomic probe tomography was not “It had not yet been developed, and scientists could not have imagined the types of analyzes we do today,” said Chicago and senior author of the study published in the journal Geochemical Perspectives Letters.
Interestingly, the oldest minerals found on Earth, Mars, and the Moon are zircon crystals. “Zircons, not diamonds, last forever,” added UCLA planetary scientist and study co-author Bidong Zhang.
The zircon-containing rocks were collected in the Taurus Littrou Valley on the southeastern edge of the lunar Sea of Serenity (Mare Serenitatis) and stored at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston.
“Zircon is very hard and survives rock collapse during weathering,” Heck said.
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