Planets and Moons  ID: 11692

Young Lava On The Moon

Story by Rex Sanders Released on December 18, 2014
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A NASA orbiter shows that lava may have flowed on the moon within the last 100 million years.
The moon, our companion in space, bears the scars of ancient asteroid impacts and lava flows. Such flows resulted in the large, dark spots on the moon’s surface that we see today. Scientists thought the moon's last volcanoes erupted at least 1 billion years ago. But new observations by NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) spacecraft have revealed dozens of geologic structures, called irregular mare patches, scattered across the lunar landscape. In these unusual areas, averaging 500 meters in diameter, smooth mounds sit next to blocky terrain. Unlike the rest of the moon, the structures have almost no craters, suggesting that they’re the remnants of recent lava flows that occurred within the last 100 million years. If true, this means the moon could be hotter inside than expected. Watch the video to learn more.
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Learn more about the moon's recent volcanic activity in this video.
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The red circles highlight groups of irregular mare patches. Scientists identified 70 of these structures on the moon's near side.
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This irregular mare patch imaged by LRO is thought to be the result of lava flows that are 33 million years old.
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This irregular mare patch, called Cauchy-5, is estimated to be 58 million years old.
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The Sosigenes lava flow (above) might be just 18 million years old.

For More Information

NASA.gov

Story Credits

Lead Scientist:
Sarah Braden (Arizona State University)

Lead Writer:
Rex Sanders (USRA)

Please give credit for this item to:
Science@NASA and NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center
Irregular mare patch images courtesy of NASA/GSFC/Arizona State University

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https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/11692

Keywords:
SVS >> App
NASA Science >> Planets and Moons