A new study suggests that 4.35 billion-year-old lunar rock samples may not date back to the moon's formation, but to a later heating event that melted its surface.
Lead author Francis Nimmo explains that the ancient moon could have resembled Jupiter's moon Io, featuring numerous volcanoes, due to this period of tidal heating.
The disparities in dating the moon's surface raise important questions about early Earth, as the moon's formation timeline is crucial for understanding our planet's history.
Tidal heating events, caused by the moon being squeezed and stretched by Earth's gravity, likely contributed to the melting and crystallization of the lunar surface.
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