The 2,000-kilometre wide crater basin on the moon is way older

The biggest and the oldest crater on the moon stretches over 2,000 kilometres and scientists now know exactly when it was formed. Studies have shown that both the Moon and Earth were hit by several asteroids and meteorites during their infancy years. The few craters found on our planet and the many dotting the landscape of the Moon are proof.

One such impact created the South Pole-Aitken (SPA) basin which is located on the far side of the moon. A team of scientists led by researchers from the University of Manchester analysed a lunar meteorite to learn more about the impact basin. The researchers have concluded that the crater was formed over 4.32 billion years ago.

The researchwas published in the journal Nature Astronomy. The scientists studied a lunar meteorite named Northwest Africa 2995 that was found in Algeria in 2005. Classified as a regolith breccia, it was found to be hiding vital clues about the South Pole-Aitken basin.

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Study co-author Joshua Snape, a research fellow at the University of Manchester, says that scientists have long conformed to the belief that the moon was bombarded by massive space rocks between 4.2 and 3.8 billion years ago.

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An analysis of uranium and lead levels in mineral and rock fragments inside the Northwest Africa 2995 meteorite threw up a fascinating result. The results showed that the SPA basin was formed 120 million years earlier than previously thought. They put the time at around 4.32 to 4.33 billion years ago.

The finding proves that the moon did not go through a narrow period of bombardment, but instead was subjected to gradual assault spread over a longer time span.

“Constraining the age of the South-Pole Aitken basin to 120 million years earlier weakens the argument for this narrow period of impact bombardment on the moon and instead indicates there was a more gradual process of impacts over a longer period,” Snape said.

The researchers compared their data with that of NASA’s Lunar Prospector mission, which orbited the moon between 1998 and 1999.

What did Earthgo through?

Study senior author Romain Tartese, an astrophysicist at the University of Manchester, says the implications of the findings are not limited to the moon but can help scientists learn more about what Earth went through during the same time.

“We know that the Earth and the moon likely experienced similar impacts during their early history, but rock records from the Earth have been lost,” said Tartese.

“We can use what we have learned about the moon to provide us with clues about the conditions on Earth during the same period of time.”

Lead author Katherine Joy, an astronomer at the University of Manchester says, “The proposed ancient 4.32 billion year old age of the South Pole-Aitken basin now needs to be tested by sample return missions collecting rocks from known localities within the crater itself."