Gigantic 200-Mile Deep ‘Structure’ Under the Moon’s Surface Baffles Scientists

Scientists have discovered a “structure” below the moon ’s surface that is nearly 200 miles deep, and they do not know what it is.

Knewz.com has learned that said mass stretches for 1,243 miles in length, and is located beneath a large crater in the vicinity of the lunar south pole .

A paper published by the American Geophysical Union (AGU) claims that the structure below said crater - named the South-Pole Aitken (SPA) Basin - weighs 480 billion pounds.

Lead author of the paper, Peter B. James of Baylor University in Texas , made a comparison. He said: “Imagine taking a pile of metal five times larger than the Big Island of Hawaii and burying it underground. That's roughly how much unexpected mass we detected,” via Baylor University .

The study assimilated these measurements using NASA ’s Gravity Recovery and Interior Laboratory (GRAIL) mission.

James explained: “When we combined that with lunar topography data from the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, we discovered the unexpectedly large amount of mass hundreds of miles underneath the South Pole-Aitken basin.”

The scientists responsible for the paper are not entirely sure how the body came to be. They have theorized that it may contain the metals from an asteroid, “that formed this crater” and still is “embedded in the Moon’s mantle.”

This idea stems from the belief that two asteroids hit the SPA basin area and that the remnants of one remained under the crater.

James noted a factor supporting this theory.  He referred to a computer simulation that depicted the resulting iron and nickel from an asteroid strike capable of a large enough impact and noted that the minerals would have dispersed between the moon’s crust and core.

He explained: “We did the math and showed that a sufficiently dispersed core of the asteroid that made the impact could remain suspended in the Moon’s mantle until the present day, rather than sinking to the Moon’s core.”

Another school of thought suggested that the substance comprising the structure was the result of the oxides produced when an enormous amount of magma cools and crystallizes.

The AGU’s research suggested that the condition of the moon's crust gives weight to the oxide theory.

“Although the basin-forming impact event likely excavated the vast majority of the preexisting crust, the present-day crust of the basin interior is at least 16 km [10 miles] thick in undisturbed regions,” it noted.

According to James, whatever caused the mass is believed to be weighing down the SPA basin floor by half a mile, (via Baylor University).

The AGU further notes that the crater is internationally recognized as “the largest preserved impact basin on the Moon.”

The cavity sets another record and not only for all things lunar or all things on Planet Earth and in its orbit.

The APS basin is the largest existing impact structure in the entire solar system —and this is mainly because traces of other asteroid craters change form quickly due to heat and other space factors.