Tiny glass beads found on the Moon show it once had volcanoes, scientists say

Volcanic eruptions were happening as recently as 120 million years ago, study suggests

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The Moon had active volcanoes as recently as 120 million years ago, according to a new study.

The research was based on tiny glass beads found on the lunar surface, which suggest that active volcanism was present on the Moon until relatively recently.

The beads were found by Chang’e 5, a Chinese mission that brought back piece of the Moon in 2020.

Researchers looked through those more than 3,000 tiny glass beads that were present in that lunar sample, examining their chemical make-up and physical texture.

They found that three of them were seemingly from a volcano. Dating showed that they were around 123 million years old.

That is the youngest volcanic activity to be confirmed on the Moon so far.

The beads had a high amount of elements known as KREEP, which can produce a heating effect. Scientists suggested that heating could have melted rocks in the Moon’s mantle, which in turn would have spewed out onto the surface.

Lunar material that was brought back by the US and Soviet missions to the Moon had already suggested that there was volcanic activity on the Moon until around three billion years ago. But the new study suggests that activity was also happening much more recently.

The findings suggests that small bodies such as the Moon could stay active until a very late stage in their development. It also helps scientists better understand the models of how the deep interior of the Moon may have developed.

The research is described in a new article, ‘Returned samples indicate volcanism on the Moon 120 million years ago’, published in the journal Science.