Detecting strange minerals on the Moon volcano

Many strange minerals found on a Moon's volcano could be from another planet.

This statement was made in an article published in Nature Geoscience. Scientists have used computers to show that these rare minerals may not have originated from the Moon as we thought.

Previously, it was thought that magnesium-rich spinel and olivine minerals found on the crater were created after the meteorite collided with the Moon. Such large collisions can evaporate or melt impacted materials, leaving only a small bit of geochemical traces and small fragments.

Many minerals on the Moon originate from meteorites colliding with the Moon.

However, Dr. Jay Melosh of Purdue University in Indiana, USA and colleagues used computers to simulate the collision. He demonstrated that meteorites with small collisions can create craters of this type. This means that meteors can still exist, even after the collision.

On Earth, spinel minerals are formed under the influence of high temperature and high pressure, which is difficult to see near the surface of the Moon. This mineral is also found on some meteorites.

Finding spinel and olivine intervals on the highest peak of the crater causes many people to question the origin of these minerals.

The author of this study created hypothetical situations, using different forces, at speeds of 6 to 16 km / s.

'We focused on assuming the situation occurred with Copernicus crater 93km in diameter because this is where spinel and olivine minerals were found , ' said Dr. Jay Melosh.

As a result, trăng the craters on the Moon are created by flying meteors at speeds of less than 12 km / s, the speed is slow enough for the impacted objects to be unaffected.

Dr. Jay Melosh concluded: "Olivine minerals are found on craters with Copernicus crest and other craters may be remnants of meteorites."

According to Dr. Michael Brown of Monash University in Melbourne, Australia, the conclusion of the impact of low-flying meteorites is slow.

'When a large meteorite collides with the Earth, due to gravity and by the meteorite speed, the collision can occur at a rate of about 20 to 30 km / s,' - Dr Brown said.

However, on the Moon, weaker gravity, meteorites near Earth, move at a slower rate than the speed of the Earth and the Moon, possibly colliding with the Moon but at slow speeds, causing most meteorites to remain 'preserved'.

According to Brown, the collision speed can only reach 3 to 5 km / s, but it can still create a crater, with a crest in the middle.

However, there are still many places with spinel minerals that explain in the direction of slow speed clashes that are unconvincing.