2 Billion-Year-Old Moon Rock Found in Africa Plugs a Huge Gap in Lunar History

2 Billion-Year-Old Moon Rock Found in Africa Plugs a Huge Gap in Lunar History

2 Billion-Year-Old Moon Rock Found in Africa Plugs a Huge Gap in Lunar History Electron image with different shades of grey highlighting chemical compositions of the minerals making up the rock – CREDIT: Dr. Joshua Snape / University of Manchester An ancient Moon rock that fell to Earth in Africa is rewriting what we know about lunar volcanoes. The rare meteorite with its unique chemical makeup bridges a billion-year gap in lunar rock samples, and suggests the Moon had internal heat sources that persisted for ages. The 2.35 billion-year-old meteorite was discovered in Africa in 2023 and reveals that the Moon was volcanically active far longer than previously thought. The research, presented this week at the world’s foremost geochemistry gathering, the Goldschmidt Conference in Prague, offers fresh insights into how the Moon’s interior evolved. The analysis from the University of Manchester, UK, dates the rock’s formation to a period from which few lunar samples exist, making it the younges…