Moon’s surface once had magma ocean? Data from Chandrayaan-3 shows THESE details to support theory…

The Indian Space Research Organisation's Chandrayaan-3 moon mission, which soft landed on Moon's south pole last year, has now found data that supports the theory that Earth's satellite was once covered in an ocean of magma, as per a PTI report.

Data from ISRO's Chandrayaan-3 supports the theory of a ‘magma ocean’ once existing on the Moon's surface, the report said ciitng an analysis published in the journal Nature.

What Did the Analysis Find?

The analysis looked at lunar soil measurements and samples, recorded and collected by the Chandrayaan-3's Pragyan rover at multiple points along a 100-metre track on the Moon's surface. The rover was deployed by the mission's Vikram lander, which made a soft landing near the south pole of the Moon on August 23, 2023.

Authors of the Nature study, included those from the Physical Research Laboratory, Ahmedabad. The authors noted that while missions by NASA's Apollo and the erstwhile Soviet Union's Luna, mainly relied on soil samples from the Moon's equitorial and mid-latitude regions, respectively, Pragyan's data, came from the Moon's south pole.

They said the samples suggested that the lunar soil was uniformly composed of a single rock type — ferroan anorthosite, or FAN; and showed results similar to those from the equatorial and mid-latitude regions.

They added that the similar composition of samples taken from geographically distant locations thus supports the theory that the lunar surface was one covered by an ocean of magma. The 'magma ocean' hypothesis, a widely accepted scenario for Moon's early evolution, they stated.

The 'Magma Ocean' Hypothesis

The hypothesis gives one possible explanation of how the Moon's crust, mantle, and core formed.

It suggests that the Moon was formed as a result of collision between two protoplanets (stage preceding planet formation) — with the bigger planet becoming the Earth, the smaller the Moon. As a result, the Moon became very hot, thereby, melting its entire mantle into a 'magma ocean', the theory suggests.

It further states that as the Moon cooled while it was forming, less dense FAN floated to the surface, whereas heavier minerals sank to form the mantle, which lies underneath the crust. Therefore, the theory posits that the Moon's crust is largely made of FAN.

Are There any Alternate Scenarios?

The analysis did note that the Pragyan also detected magnesium in the lunar soil, which could disprove the lunar magma ocean (LMO) hypothesis. The authors added that the hypothesis has been questioned by some studies based on recent re-analysis of many samples procured during Apollo's mission.

"Although alternative scenarios exist, the APXS-measured composition, its uniformity over regional scales and the geological context support the LMO hypothesis," they wrote.

An Alpha Particle X-ray Spectrometer, or APXS, aboard the Pragyan rover was used to collect information about elements in the soil in the vicinity of the Chandrayaan-3 landing site, which was named the 'Shiv Shakti Point' on August 26, 2023.

(With inputs from PTI)