The Age Of The Moon - 2.03 Billion Years!
author: cily
2023-02-10
Indeed, the research in the report is real, and scientists have indeed obtained the research conclusion of "2.03 billion years". However, many people have deviated when describing this conclusion, which eventually led to wrong statements.
The age of lunar soil ≠ the age of the moon
What was mentioned in the news report was actually held recently, the first Seminar on the Research Results of Chang'e-5 Lunar Samples. At the meeting, Li Xianhua, academician of the Institute of Geology and Geophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, said that the team had accurately measured the lunar soil samples collected by Chang'e-5, and its age was 2.03 billion years.
Academician Li Xianhua said that the age of the lunar soil sample they accurately measured was "2.03 billion years"-he did not say that the "moon age" was 2.03 billion years.
This study accurately measured lunar basalts in the lunar soil. In fact, from a more strict point of view, these lunar basalts should be called "moon rocks", but because the diameter of the "moon rock" samples collected this time is less than or equal to 1 cm, they are also commonly called "moon soil".
Lunar basalt is a rock formed by magma formed by partial melting of the moon's mantle and cooled and crystallized on the surface of the moon by volcanic eruption. It cannot represent the true age of the moon. Imagine, if we measure the age of the magma that cooled after the eruption of the Tonga volcano in January 2022 today (February 2023), does that mean that the age of the earth is actually only one year old? The answer is definitely not true, so "2.03 billion years" is not the true age of the moon.
What exactly is "2.03 billion years"?
So is the "2.03 billion years" reported this time related to the age of the moon? There really are.
As the satellite of the earth, the moon has only 1% of the mass of the earth. As such a small celestial body, the moon should cool down quickly and stop volcanic activity early in theory, becoming a dead planet.
In the 1960s and 1970s, the six manned moon landing missions of the American Apollo collected some lunar basalts. After studying this batch of lunar soil, it was found that they were formed 3.8 billion to 3 billion years ago. , So the scientific community previously believed that the youngest volcanic activity on the moon was about 3 billion years ago. According to this research, the moon "died" about 3 billion years ago.
As the satellite of the earth, the moon has only 1% of the mass of the earth. As such a small celestial body, the moon should cool down quickly and stop volcanic activity early in theory, becoming a dead planet.
In the 1960s and 1970s, the six manned moon landing missions of the American Apollo collected some lunar basalts. After studying this batch of lunar soil, it was found that they were formed 3.8 billion to 3 billion years ago. , So the scientific community previously believed that the youngest volcanic activity on the moon was about 3 billion years ago. According to this research, the moon "died" about 3 billion years ago.
In 2020, after the Chinese lunar exploration project launched Chang'e-5 to the moon and collected some lunar soil samples, the statement about the death age of the moon began to change. After studying the lunar soil samples collected by Chang'e-5, it was found that the volcanic activity on the moon actually continued until 2.03 billion years ago, which means that the moon was alive at least 2.03 billion years ago, not 3 billion years ago as previously thought just die.
Therefore, the "2.03 billion years" this time is not the age of the moon since its birth, but the youngest volcanic activity time of the moon discovered so far.
Therefore, the "2.03 billion years" this time is not the age of the moon since its birth, but the youngest volcanic activity time of the moon discovered so far.
So will younger lunar soil be discovered in the future? Chen Yi, a researcher at the Institute of Geology and Geophysics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, said that this is also "completely possible", and "when the moon really died is still a mystery."
Can the Chang'e-5 samples represent the average chemical composition of the basalts in the landing area? The research team of China University of Geosciences (Wuhan) established a new analysis technology for lunar soil samples, and accurately determined the content of 48 major and trace elements in lunar soil at the same time with a minimum loss of 2 mg of samples. The research team conducted seven sampling analyzes of the two batches of shoveled lunar soil, and the results were highly consistent, and also consistent with the remote sensing data of the Chang'e-5 mission, indicating that the shoveled lunar soil is very uniform and can represent the average chemical composition of the basalt in the landing area.
The Chang'e-5 landing area is located in the mare in the northwest of the Ocean of Storms, but there may also be materials outside the mare. The Shandong University research team used laser micro-Raman spectroscopy to analyze two copies of the Chang'e-5 lunar soil. The study found that the chemical composition range of pyroxene and olivine minerals in the Chang'e-5 lunar soil is basically the same as that of the Chang'e-5 basalt, but there are still a few It is inferred that the Chang'e-5 landing area may contain 5% to 7% of foreign magnesium sputtering, which may originate from the lunar crust excavated from large impact craters far away from the landing area.
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