Last volcanic activity on Moon much later than scientists thought

Volcanic activity on the Moon has taken place more recently than scientists thought, latest findings suggest.

Lunar rocks brought back to Earth for the first time in decades show evidence of ancient volcanic activity, according to Chinese scientists.

They brought lunar rocks and soil to Earth last year in humanity's first mission in four decades, in a milestone for Beijing's growing space programme.

The samples included basalt, a form of cooled lava, from two billion years ago – bringing forward the last known date of volcanic activity on the Moon by as much as 900 million years.

Analysis of the samples "reveals that the Moon's interior was still evolving at around two billion years ago", said the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS).

Previous moon rocks brought back by US and Soviet missions showed evidence of lunar activity up to 2.8 billion years ago, but left a gap in scientists' knowledge about the more recent history of Earth's natural satellite, as they were from older parts of the lunar surface.

The Chang'e-5 mission, named after a mythical moon goddess, collected two kilograms of samples from a previously unexplored area of the Moon called Mons Ruemker in the Oceanus Procellarum or "Ocean of Storms".

The area was selected as it was thought by scientists to be more recently formed, based on the lower density of craters from meteors on its surface.

"Altogether those results are extremely exciting, providing amazing science and results on understanding the lunar formation and evolution over time," Audrey Bouvier, a planetology professor at Germany's University of Bayreuth, said in a video message at a Beijing press conference on Tuesday.

The latest findings, published in three papers in the Nature journal on Tuesday, open up new questions for scientists trying to decipher the history of the Moon.

"How did the Moon sustain volcanic activity for so long? The Moon is naturally small and should disperse heat quickly, or so the thinking goes," CAS researcher Li Xianhua, one of the authors of the studies, told reporters.

The Chang'e 5 samples marked a major step for the Chinese space programme, which has sent a rover to Mars and landed another craft on the far side of the Moon.

The country, racing to catch up with the US and Russia, sent three astronauts to its new space station on Saturday, which is expected to become operational next year.