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The Lunar Magma Ocean (LMO) is the layer of molten rock that is theorized to have been present on the surface of the Moon. The LMO was likely present on the Moon from the time of the Moon's formation (about 4.5 or 4.4 billion years ago [1]) to tens or hundreds of millions of years after that time. The LMO was a thermodynamic consequence of the ...
Magma oceans are integral parts of planetary formation as they facilitate the formation of a core through metal segregation [3] and an atmosphere and hydrosphere through degassing. [4] Evidence exists to support the existence of magma oceans on both the Earth and the Moon. [1][5] Magma oceans may survive for millions to tens of millions of ...
Crystallization of this magma ocean would have given rise to a differentiated body with a compositionally distinct crust and mantle and accounts for the major suites of lunar rocks. As crystallization of the lunar magma ocean proceeded, minerals such as olivine and pyroxene would have precipitated and sank to form the lunar mantle.
While the lunar magma ocean hypothesis has existed for decades, ever since the Apollo mission placed humans on the moon in 1969, the new research has allowed researchers to confirm the ...
The Moon’s south pole was once covered in an ocean of liquid molten rock, according to scientists. The findings back up a theory that magma formed the Moon's surface around 4.5 billion years ago.
Thermal state of the Moon at age 100 Ma. [1] Having a mean density of 3,346.4 kg/m 3, [2] the Moon is a differentiated body, being composed of a geochemically distinct crust, mantle, and planetary core. This structure is believed to have resulted from the fractional crystallization of a magma ocean shortly after its formation about 4.5 billion ...
This lunar origin hypothesis has some difficulties that have yet to be resolved. For example, the giant-impact hypothesis implies that a surface magma ocean would have formed following the impact. Yet there is no evidence that Earth ever had such a magma ocean and it is likely there exists material that has never been processed in a magma ocean ...
The Moon's heavily cratered far-side. The origin of the Moon is usually explained by a Mars-sized body striking the Earth, creating a debris ring that eventually collected into a single natural satellite, the Moon, but there are a number of variations on this giant-impact hypothesis, as well as alternative explanations, and research continues into how the Moon came to be formed.