Moon: Dead or Alive?

If you are with conventional wisdom that any volcanic activities on the moon have ceased billions of years ago, then you are mistaken. A new study points to evidence that the moon has been geologically active within the past 10 million years. The site that bears the signs of recent geological activities is ‘Ina’, in Lacus Felicitatis, a lake of ancient, hardened lava located at lunar coordinates 19o N, 5o E, according to a report published in the 9 November issue of journal Nature.

Apollo astronauts first noticed Ina. Since then it became the object of intense scrutiny of astronomers. “It is shaped like a letter D and two kilometers wide,” says Peter Schultz of Brown University in US, who led the research team in uncovering the mysteries of Ina. Several features of Ina prove that it is young. One of them is that Ina has sharp edges. As small meteoroids constantly rain down on the moon’s surface, sharp edges are unlikely to survive. Further, Ina is sparsely cratered. According to Schultz, there are only two clear impact craters larger than 30 meters on the 8 square kilometers of the structure’s floor.

Schultz and his teammates found that patches of lunar regolith in the Ina structure were recently removed. “The number of superimposed small craters and the freshness of the regolith together indicate that features within this structure must be very young and perhaps are still forming today,” concludes Schultz.