A team of researchers investigated the formation of the massive South Pole-Aitken (SPA) basin, discovering its age by analysing a lunar meteorite found in Algeria in 2005
Scientists from Manchester believe they have solved the mystery of the age of a giant crater on the Moon - with analysis showing it to have been created 4.32 billion years ago.
James Darling, professor of earth and planetary science at the University of Portsmouth, explained: “By analysing the isotopes of uranium and lead found in a range of mineral and rock fragments within the meteorite, we were able to determine the materials dated back to between 4.32 and 4.33 billion years ago. Importantly, evidence from the internal structure of minerals suggests that this is the timing of an extreme event that reset the ages of the sample.
“But now, constraining the age of the South-Pole Aitken basin to 120 million years earlier weakens the argument for this narrow period of impact bombardment on the Moon and instead indicates there was a more gradual process of impacts over a longer period.”
Science The University Of Manchester
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