Study finds the moon had active volcanoes during the dinosaur age

Surprisingly Recent Volcanic Eruptions on the Moon Reveal Activity Even During the Time of Earth’s Dinosaurs


TL;DR

New research indicates that volcanic activity on the Moon persisted until 120 million years ago, overlapping with the age of Earth’s dinosaurs. Three volcanic glass beads collected by the Chang’e-5 lunar mission in 2020 provided evidence of these eruptions, challenging prior assumptions that lunar volcanism ceased 2 billion years ago. This discovery suggests that small celestial bodies, like the Moon, could retain enough internal heat to sustain volcanic activity for longer than expected. The findings raise questions about the Moon’s heat sources and could inspire future missions to investigate these volcanic origins.

After reading the article, Reddit user Emily gained over 649 upvotes with this comment: “Would they have been visible erupting from Earth? Cool stuff.” Don’t forget to share your thoughts in the comment section below—what do you think about the possibility of recent volcanic eruptions on the Moon?

____________________________

New research indicates that volcanoes were still erupting on the Moon during the time of Earth’s dinosaurs, suggesting lunar volcanic activity occurred much more recently than previously thought.

According to a study published Thursday in the journal Science, three tiny glass beads collected from the Moon’s surface in 2020 by a Chinese probe show evidence of volcanic activity on the Moon as recent as 120 million years ago.

Earlier analyses of samples from the Chang’e-5 lunar mission had concluded that volcanic activity ceased about 2 billion years ago, revising previous beliefs that lunar volcanoes had been inactive for around 4 billion years.

The researchers studied roughly 3,000 lunar glass beads, which can be formed either by volcanic eruptions or meteorite impacts. Of these, three were identified as volcanic in origin based on their textures and chemical composition.

The study’s research team expressed being “surprised and excited” by this “unexpected” finding.

The discovery of recent volcanic activity on the Moon “implies that small celestial bodies, such as the Moon, could maintain sufficient heat to sustain internal vitality until the very late stage,” explained Professor Li Qiu-Li and Associate Professor He Yuyang of the Institute of Geology and Geophysics at the Chinese Academy of Sciences, who co-authored the study, in an email.

However, the study noted that it remains “unclear” how the Moon could have stayed volcanically active for such an extended period.

Qian Yuqi, a researcher specializing in planetary volcanism at the University of Hong Kong, highlighted that finding such relatively young volcanoes has “significant” implications for understanding the Moon’s evolution.

“Where are their sources?” Qian, who did not participate in the research, asked in an email. “It may drive new missions in the future to look for them.”

The Chang’e-5 lunar mission marked the first return of lunar samples since the U.S. Apollo program and the Soviet Luna 24 mission in the 1970s. In June, China made history by becoming the first country to retrieve rocks from the Moon’s far side with its Chang’e-6 mission.

0 0 votes
Article Rating
Subscribe
Notify of
guest
6 Comments
Oldest
Newest Most Voted
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
businesstrick
businesstrick
27 days ago

Simply desire to say your article is as surprising The clearness in your post is simply excellent and i could assume you are an expert on this subject Fine with your permission let me to grab your feed to keep up to date with forthcoming post Thanks a million and please carry on the gratifying work

Paul
Paul
27 days ago

I first saw the HBO series from the earth to the moon a few years ago. One thing I found fascinating was the episode where they teach the astronauts about geology. No one ever explained this in school. All we ever heard about was Apollo 11. The later missions were way more interesting it turns out.

Phillips
Phillips
27 days ago

I can easily imagine the Larson cartoon, with some dinosaurs sitting back and going “Oooooooh”.

Dan
Dan
27 days ago

Think about how awesome Lunar volcanoes would look when the Moon is dark, especially though a telescope…

Liams
Liams
27 days ago

Does that imply it could have active volcanoes now or in the future, maybe intermittently? 120MYA is such a short time compared to the Moon’s age, it seems like a colossal coincidence if it stopped active volcanism right before humans evolved.

Jane
Jane
27 days ago

Lol “the dinosaur age” is incredibly vague and covers a huge range.

120 million years ago is in the Cretaceous age, specifically the Aptian stage of the Cretaceous age. It had its own extinction event around 116-117 million years ago. Mostly the age seems to be define by unique geological features (funky rocks) and is named after a region in France. Dinosaurs at the time included allosaurids like Acrocanthosaurus in North America and dwarf allosaurids in what is now Australia, alongside the ancestor of the platypus.

6
0
Would love your thoughts, please comment.x
()
x