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    • World first Chinese sample reveals ‘young’ volcanic activity on far side of Moon
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    World first Chinese sample reveals ‘young’ volcanic activity on far side of Moon

    Online Niel Posted on

    For the first time, Chinese scientists and their US collaborators were able to accurately measure the age of volcanic eruptions on the far side of a month.

    Previously, this was only estimated from remote sensing observations.

    Two research teams led by scientists from the Chinese Academy of Sciences, based in Beijing and Guangzhou, used radiometric dating to analyze isotope decay in basalt, a type of volcanic rock brought back to Earth by China. The Chang’e-6 mission in June.

    Their studies, published Friday in the journals Nature and Science, both found that the moon’s oldest and deepest crater on its far side was volcanically active about 2.8 billion years ago.

    In comparison, the samples returned by Apollo, Luna and Chang’e-5 missions – all from the near side – determined that lunar volcanism occurred between 4 and 2 billion years ago.

    The Nature paper pointed out that the age of 2.8 billion years was “surprisingly young” because volcanic activity on the far side was traditionally thought to have ended much earlier. Most volcanic eruptions have been associated with the near side and are thought to have ceased about 3 billion years ago.

    Online Niel
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