Large sub-surface granite formation signals ancient volcanic activity on Moon's dark side
Microwave frequency data from lunar orbiter reveals deposit of cooled
magma beneath a volcano that likely erupted 3.5 billion years ago

Date:
July 5, 2023
Source:
Southern Methodist University
Summary:
A large formation of granite discovered below the lunar surface
likely was formed from the cooling of molten lava that fed a
volcano or volcanoes that erupted early in the Moon's history --
as long as 3.5 billion years ago.


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FULL STORY ==========================================================================
A large formation of granite discovered below the lunar surface likely was formed from the cooling of molten lava that fed a volcano or volcanoes
that erupted early in the Moon's history -- as long as 3.5 billion
years ago.

A team of scientists led by Matthew Siegler, an SMU research professor and research scientist with the Planetary Science Institute, has published
a study in Naturethat used microwave frequency data to measure heat
below the surface of a suspected volcanic feature on the Moon known as Compton-Belkovich. The team used the data to determine that the heat
being generated below the surface is coming from a concentration of
radioactive elements that can only exist on the Moon as granite.

Granites are the igneous rock remnants of the plumbing systems below
extinct volcanos. The granite formation left when lava cools without
erupting is known as a batholith.

"Any big body of granite that we find on Earth used to feed a big bunch
of volcanoes, much like a large system is feeding the Cascade volcanoes
in the Pacific Northwest today," Siegler said. "Batholiths are much
bigger than the volcanoes they feed on the surface. For example, the
Sierra Nevada mountains are a batholith, left from a volcanic chain in
the western United States that existed long ago." The lunar batholith
is located in a region of the Moon previously identified as a volcanic
complex, but researchers are surprised at its size, with an estimated
diameter of 50 kilometers.

Granite is somewhat common on Earth, and its formation is generally
driven by water and plate tectonics, which aid in creating large melt
bodies below the Earth's surface. However, granites are extremely rare
on the Moon, which lacks these processes.

Finding this granite body helps explain how the early lunar crust formed.

"If you don't have water it takes extreme situations to make granite,"
Siegler said. "So, here's this system with no water, and no plate
tectonics -- but you have granite.

Was there water on the moon -- at least in this one spot? Or was it just especially hot?" Research team members included Jianquing Fang, from
the Planetary Science Institute; Katelyn Lehman-Franco, Rita Economos and Mackenzie White from SMU; Jeffrey Andrews-Hanna from Southwest Research Institute; Michael St. Clair and Chase Million from Million Concepts;
James Head III from Brown University and Timothy Glotch from Stony
Brook University.

The work was funded through NASA's Lunar Data Analysis Program and work
related to the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Diviner Lunar Radiometer.

Data for the study was obtained from public data released from
two Chinese lunar orbiters, Chang'E-1 in 2010 and Chang'E-2 in
2012, carrying four-channel microwave radiometer instruments. The
original Chang'E?1 and Chang'E-2 MRM data can be downloaded from: http://moon.bao.ac.cn/index_en.jsp.

Siegler will be presenting the team's research at the upcoming Goldschmidt Conference, scheduled for July 9-14 in Lyon, France.

* RELATED_TOPICS
o Space_&_Time
# Moon # Space_Exploration # Space_Missions # NASA #
Solar_System # Jupiter # Pluto # Space_Probes
* RELATED_TERMS
o Volcano o History_of_Earth o Lunar_space_elevator
o Cosmic_microwave_background_radiation o Moon o
Neptune's_natural_satellites o Eclipse o Antikythera_mechanism

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========================================================================== Related Multimedia:
* Suspected_volcanic_feature_on_the_Moon_known_as_Compton-Belkovich ========================================================================== Journal Reference:
1. Siegler, M.A., Feng, J., Lehman-Franco, K. et al. Remote detection
of a
lunar granitic batholith at Compton-Belkovich. Nature, 2023 DOI:
10.1038/ s41586-023-06183-5 ==========================================================================

Link to news story: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2023/07/230705122456.htm

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