The impact of the asteroid created heat inside the moon
The authors of the study are scientists from Brown University in the United States, who focused on the largest lunar impact crater, known as Aitken or as the South Pole – Aitken. This is about 2600 kilometers wide and 8.5 kilometers deep crater created a massive cosmic body (perhaps a naughty wandering dwarf planet) that collided with the moon in the distant past, when the solar system was just forming.
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Scientists have now found that the impact that created the deepened basin in the Moon would probably also cause a massive heat column to spread inside the moon, carry certain materials to its adjacent side, and promote volcanic activity, resulting in volcanic plains.
“We know that impacts as large as the one that created Aitken Crater generate a lot of heat,” Matt Jones, a science fellow at Brown University and lead author of the study, said in a press release quoted by CNN.
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“The question remains how this heat affects the inner dynamics of the Moon. We point out that under whatever conditions we can expect for the time this crater occurred, this process would end with the heat-producing elements concentrating on the adjacent side of the Moon. We therefore believe that this has contributed to the melting of the mantle, and this has created lava flows that we see on the surface. “
Moon surfer on a heat wave
The volcanic plains on the moon’s side are home to a number of elements, including potassium, rare earth elements, phosphorus, and a material called Procellarum KREEP Terrane, which is rare elsewhere on the moon.
The scientists performed computer simulations of how the heat generated by the huge impact would change the heat transfer patterns inside the moon and how it would overlay the KREEP material in the moon’s mantle.
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According to their model, the KREEP material would literally “surf” on the heat wave coming from the impact zone, and as the heat cloud spread under the moon’s crust, the material would eventually be transported to the adjacent side. This situation would occur both in the event of a direct impact of the body and in the case of a foreign body just rubbing against the moon.
“The question of how the Procellarum KREEP Terrane came about is probably the most open question in lunar science, and the impact on the South Pole created by Aitken Crater is one of the most significant events in lunar history. This work puts both of these things together, and I think our results are really exciting, ”concludes Matt Jones.
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