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The far side of the Moon, often called the “dark side,” has revealed surprising details about its volcanic history thanks to samples collected by China’s Chang’e-6 mission. The findings indicate that volcanic activity in this region of the Moon persisted for at least 1.4 billion years.
The far side of the Moon has had active volcanoes for more than 1.4 billion years. Photo: Reproduction
Chang’e-6 is the only mission that managed to bring materials from the far side of the Moon, returning with almost 2 kilograms of soil and lunar rocks. Among the samples, scientists identified basalt fragments that are 4.2 billion years old, making them the oldest ever accurately measured. These findings are crucial to understanding the geological dichotomy between the Moon’s two hemispheres.
Chang’e-6 mission landing site on the far side of the Moon. Photo: Reproduction
The findings, published in the journals Nature e Sciencebring new perspectives on the Moon’s volcanic past and open the way for future explorations.
Dark Side Volcanic History
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- While volcanic activity on the visible side of the Moon is well documented, the far side has remained a mystery.
- The Chang’e-6 samples revealed evidence of a “younger” eruption that occurred 2.8 billion years ago.
- This discovery is especially notable as there are no records of similar events on the visible side of the Moon.
- Researchers from the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Guangzhou Institute of Geochemistry used radiometric dating and crater counting techniques to determine the ages of these eruptions.
- Basalt fragments associated with the 2.8 billion-year-old eruption are consistent with the age of the Chang’e-6 landing site, demonstrating the reliability of crater counts for dating geological features on the far side.
The two types of basalt in the soils of Chang’e-6 and low-Ti basalt isochrones of Chang’e-6. Photo: Reproduction
Differences between the lunar hemispheres
The visible side of the Moon is dominated by dark basalt plains known as maria, while the far side is heavily cratered and lacks similar features. This dichotomy between the hemispheres is also reflected in differences in the thickness of the crust and the concentration of elements such as thorium. Scientists believe that unraveling the volcanic history of the hidden side is essential to understanding these discrepancies.
Professor Yi-Gang Xu, from the Guangzhou Institute of Geochemistry, highlighted the relevance of the research. “The samples returned by Chang’e-6 offer the best opportunity to investigate the Moon’s global dichotomy.”
This is an incredibly exciting study with immense importance to the lunar and planetary science community.
Qiuli Li, professor at the Institute of Geology and Geophysics, in a statement
Continued Exploration of the Dark Side
The far side of the Moon continues to be an object of great scientific curiosity. Although it is not perpetually dark, its gravitationally locked position to Earth means that the same side of the Moon always faces us, leaving the far side largely unexplored.
The first images from this side were captured in 1959 by the Soviet spacecraft Luna 3, but it was with the more recent missions from and from that high-quality images and detailed data were obtained.
During the Chang’e-6 mission, a rover even managed to take a selfie of the module sitting on the rocky terrain on the far side, further consolidating the mission’s success.
