Scientists have discovered a gigantic chunk of ancient granite hiding beneath the moon surface, providing evidence of a type of volcanism never seen there before. This mysterious, heat-emitting chunk of granite was found by an orbiting satellite.
According to Planetary Scientists, the 50-km-diameter granite system discovered beneath a far-side feature known as the Compton-Belkovich Volcanic Complex likely formed from the cooling of molten lava that fed a volcano or volcanoes that erupted approximately 3.5 billion years ago.
“We have discovered additional heat emanating from the ground at a site on the Moon that is believed to be a long-dead volcano that last erupted more than 3.5 billion years ago. It is about 50 km in diameter and the only solution we can imagine a large amount of heat is a large body of granite, a rock that forms when a magmatic body unexploded lava below a volcano cools.
Compared to other rocks in the lunar crust, granite has high concentrations of radioactive elements such as uranium and thorium, causing heating we can felt on the lunar surface,” said lead researcher Dr Matt Siegler (of the Planetary Science Institute, Tucson, Az).
According to extraterrestrial experts, the Solar System is almost devoid of granites, which form when magma leads to magma.
Previously, only a few grains of granite were detected in the hundreds of kilograms of rock returned by NASA’s Apollo missions, and remote sensing studies since then have found only a few small granite or granitic features on the Moon.
Written by: Vaishali Verma
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