Mysterious radioactive stone discovered on the far side of the moon

Scientists have discovered an anomalous formation of radioactive granite that slowly released heat below the surface in a crater on the far side of the moon.. This unexpected find could provide valuable information about the history of our natural satellite.

Although it seems to be taken from a sci-fi piece, it is about ancient volcanism. The Moon has long been known to have had lava fields and eruptions in the past, but no evidence of a more common Earth-like volcano has ever been discovered. However, astronomers have studied what is under the Compton-Belkovich craters, and have come to a startling conclusion.

According to a new study published in the journal Nature earlier this month, It is believed that the source of this unusual piece of granite is a volcano that has been dormant for approximately 3.5 billion years.

ancient lunar volcanoes

“It’s more like Earth than we thought, it could be on the Moon, where there’s no water and no tectonic plates that help form granites on Earth,” said study lead author Matt Sigler of the Planetary Science Institute in the US. Tucson, Arizona.

In his article the researchers argue that the existence of granite below the surface suggests that the far side of the moon, which has been less studied and has always remained opposite the Earth, where in its early past there was one or more volcanoes that erupted about 3.5 billion years ago.

“Any large mass of granite that we found on Earth has been used to power a large group of volcanoes,” Ziegler said.

Ziegler and colleague Rita Economos of Southern Methodist University have detected heat with a new method that uses microwaves to measure the earth’s temperature with China’s Chang’E 1 and 2 lunar orbiters. They also used data from NASA’s Lunar Prospector and Lunar Reconnaissance orbiters.

“We found that one of these alleged volcanoes, known as Compton Belkovich, it was absolutely brilliant at microwave wavelengths,” Ziegler said. “That means it’s hot, not necessarily on the surface, as you see in infrared, but just below the surface. The only way to explain this is that the extra heat comes from somewhere underneath the object, from deeper layers of the lunar crust. So Compton-Belkovich, which is considered a volcano, also hides a large source of heat under it.

Radioactivity of elements attached to rocks

The data show a vast silicon-rich region approximately 20 kilometers wide., which researchers identify as the caldera of an ancient volcano. The temperature in this region is 10 °C higher than in the surrounding area. However, this thermal discrepancy, according to the researchers, is not due to the presence of magma under the surface, but to the radioactivity of the elements attached to the rocks.

“We interpret this heat flux as coming from a radiogenic rich granite body located under the caldera,” Ziegler explains. “Honestly, we were a little puzzled when we found it: fortunately, my wife, Dr. Rita Economos, is the family geochemist, so under her guidance, we were able to piece together the likely geological cause of the thermal anomaly.” he added.

Economos offers an explanation for this discovery by emphasizing the presence of a 50 km wide batholith. He explains that batholiths are volcanic rock formations that form when lava rises in the earth’s crust but does not erupt to the surface. Notable examples of similar granite boulders rising to the surface can be found at El Capitan and Half Dome in Yosemite, California.

Despite impressive findings, Scientists are facing a landscape with more questions than answers.

“If there is no water, extreme situations are needed to produce granite,” Ziegler explains. “So we have a system without water and without plate tectonics, but with granite. Was there water on the moon, at least in this place? Or was it just too hot?