Study suggests the moon had active volcanoes while the Earth had dinosaurs

A new study published last week suggests that while dinosaurs were still the apex predator on Earth, there were active volcanoes on the moon.

The study was published in the journal Science last Thursday and suggests that the moon looked a little different while dinosaurs still roamed the Earth.

To complete their estimate of the death of the moon’s volcanic activity, researchers examined about 3,000 lunar glass beads, which came from volcanic eruptions or meteor impacts.

Of them all, only three were found to be of volcanic origin.

Researchers came to their conclusion after examining the three tiny glass beads that were collected from the surface of the moon in 2020 by a Chinese probe. The beads have led scientists to believe that there was lunar volcanic activity as recently as 120 million years ago.

Scientists had previously thought volcanic activity ended on the moon about 4 billion years ago, and an early analysis of the beads recovered by the Chang’e-5 lunar mission bumped that number to 2 billion years ago.

But now, the research team behind the study says they are “surprised and excited” by what is being considered an “unexpected” discovery.

Professor Li Qiu-Li and Associate Professor He Yuyang of the Institute of Geology and Geophysics at the Chinese Academy of Sciences were the two co-authors behind the study.

They shared in a statement to NBC News that the possibility of recent lunar volcanic activity “implies that small celestial bodies, such as the Moon, could maintain sufficient heat to sustain internal vitality until the very late stage.”

Still, the research says it is “unclear” how the moon could have remained volcanically active for so long.

The Chang’e-5 lunar mission has given scientists new material to study and examine, being the first lunar mission to return samples from the moon since the Apollo program in the 1970s.