Moon’s Crust tagged posts

New research published today in the journal Nature Astronomy reveals a type of destructive event most often associated with disaster movies and dinosaur extinction may have also contributed to the formation of the Moon’s surface.

A group of international scientists led by the Royal Ontario Museum has discovered that the formation of ancient rocks on the Moon may be directly linked to large-scale meteorite impacts.

The scientists conducted new research of a unique rock collected by NASA astronauts dur...

Researchers analyzed the gravity signatures of more than 1,200 craters (in yellow) on the far side of the moon. Credit: Courtesy of the researchers

The far side of the moon ie Lunar Highlands have been so heavily bombarded – particularly by small asteroids – that the impacts completely shattered the upper crust, leaving these regions essentially as fractured and porous as they could be. The scientists found that further impacts to these highly porous regions may have then had the opposite effect, sealing up cracks and decreasing porosity.

4 billion years ago, during the Late Heavy Bombardment, the moon took a severe beating, as an army of asteroids pelted its surface, carving out craters and opening deep fissures in its crust...