If this is correct, it suggests that the age-frequency distributions of impacts on the Moon might provide valuable information about the impacts on the Earth or inner solar system.”Ĭo-author Associate Professor Katarina Miljkovic, also from Curtin’s SSTC, said future comparative studies could give further insight into the geological history of the Moon. “The study also found that large impact events on Earth such as the Chicxulub crater 66 million years ago could have been accompanied by a number of smaller impacts. “We found that some of the age groups of the lunar glass beads coincide precisely with the ages of some of the largest terrestrial impact crater events, including the Chicxulub impact crater responsible for the dinosaur extinction event. “We combined a wide range of microscopic analytical techniques, numerical modelling, and geological surveys to determine how these microscopic glass beads from the Moon were formed and when,” Professor Nemchin said. Lead author Professor Alexander Nemchin, from Curtin University’s Space Science and Technology Centre (SSTC) in the School of Earth and Planetary Sciences, said the findings imply that the timing and frequency of asteroid impacts on the Moon may have been mirrored on Earth, telling us more about the history of evolution of our own planet. (E and F) Type 3 spheres with partially digested clasts, schlieren, metal, and vesicles. (C and D) Type 2 spheres with increasing proportion of schlieren, metal, and vesicles. (B) Sphere of homogeneous (type 1a) glass with metal around the rim. (A) Homogeneous (type 1a) glass with no clasts, schlieren, vesicles, or metal. The heat and pressure of meteorite impacts created the glass beads and so their age distribution should mimic the impacts, revealing a timeline of bombardments. The international research team studied microscopic glass beads aged up to two billion years old that were found in lunar soil brought back to Earth in December 2020 as part of the Chinese National Space Agency’s Chang’e-5 Lunar mission.
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