Indian Space Research Organisation Chandrayaan-3 The lunar mission, which soft-landed on the Moon’s south pole last year, has now found data supporting the theory that Earth’s satellite was once covered by a magma ocean, according to a PTI report.
Data from ‘ISRO’The discovery of Chandrayaan-3 supports the theory that a “magma ocean” once existed on the Moon’s surface, the report said, citing an analysis published in the journal Nature.
What did the analysis find?
The analysis examined mole measurements and soil samples, recorded and collected by Chandrayaan-3’s Pragyan rover at multiple points along a 100-meter track in the MoonThe rover was deployed by the mission’s Vikram lander, which made a soft landing near the Moon’s south pole on August 23, 2023.
The authors of the Nature study include members of the Physical Research Laboratory in Ahmedabad. The authors noted that while NASA’s Apollo and the former Soviet Union’s Moon missions relied primarily on soil samples from the Moon’s equatorial and mid-latitude regions, respectively, Pragyan’s data came from the Moon’s south pole.
They said the samples suggested the lunar soil was uniformly composed of a single type of rock – ferrous anorthosite, or FAN – and showed results similar to those in equatorial and mid-latitude regions.
They added that the similar composition of the samples taken from geographically distant locations supports the theory that the lunar surface was covered by a magma ocean. The “magma ocean” hypothesis, a widely accepted scenario for the early formation of the Moon, evolutionthey stated.
The “magma ocean” hypothesis
The hypothesis offers a possible explanation for how the Moon’s crust, mantle and core formed.
The theory suggests that the Moon was formed as a result of a collision between two protoplanets (the stage before planets form), with the larger planet becoming the Earth and the smaller Moon. As a result, the Moon became very hot and its entire mantle melted and turned into a “magma ocean,” the theory suggests.
He further states that, as Moon As the Moon cooled while forming, less dense FANs floated to the surface, while heavier minerals sank to form the mantle, which lies beneath the crust. The theory therefore posits that the Moon’s crust is largely made up of FANs.
Are there alternative scenarios?
The analysis noted that the pragian Magnesium was also detected in lunar soil, which could refute the lunar magma ocean (LMO) hypothesis. The authors added that the hypothesis has been questioned by some studies based on a recent reanalysis of many samples obtained during the Apollo mission.
“Although alternative scenarios exist, the composition measured by APXS, its uniformity on regional scales, and the geological context support the LMO hypothesis,” they wrote.
An alpha particle X-ray spectrometer, or APXS, onboard the Pragyan rover was used to gather information about soil elements in the vicinity of the Chandrayaan-3 landing site, which was named ‘Shiv Shakti Point’ on August 26, 2023.
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