Minerals in the Moon are found abundantly in Australia

A mineral that was brought to Earth by the first people to set foot on the Moon and is believed to be unique at the surface of "Sister Hang" , has just been found in Australian rocks with a date of more than 1 billion years old, scientists said on January 5.

Named after the Apollo 11 landing site in 1969 to the Tranquility Sea, tranquillityite is one of the first three minerals discovered in the lunar rock and the only one not found anywhere on the left. Land.

Scientist Birger Rasmussen said that tranquillityite has long been thought to be a lunar mineral, until geologists discovered it by accident, in the rock of mineral rich areas. Western Australia.

"For more than 40 years, this mineral has not been found in any sample on Earth," Rasmussen, an expert at Curtin University, told AFP.

When the new lunar soil samples were brought back, Rasmussen said they were considered "extremely rare" and the subject of ongoing research at the time, while - ironically - components The Moon's soil is "filled under the Earth".

"They are always part of the Earth and they do not come from the Moon" - he said of his findings, newly published in Geology weekly .

"It shows you that in general, the Earth and Moon have the same chemical properties and processes , " said Rasmussen.

In addition to bringing "odd and unexpected" information , Rasmussen said that the findings also have important application implications, in which minerals will be a good chronological tool, allowing scientists to Can determine the age of a stone.

"We use this mineral to calculate the age of dolerite , which was not previously calculated, so it can help us understand more about geological history , " he said . 07 billion years old, much older than many of the oldest known rocks in the region. "

Rasmussen said that tranquillityite could be used to calculate the age for similar stones in the future: "I think it appears more than the 6 locations we found . " - he talked about rare minerals.