This is an interesting new hypothesis that could explain why we see the face on the Moon:
Differences between the Moon’s near and far sides linked to colossal ancient impact (April 8, 2022)
Quote:
A new study published in the journal Science Advances shows that the impact that formed the Moon's giant South Pole-Aitken (SPA) basin would have created a massive plume of heat that propagated through the lunar interior. That plume would have carried certain materials -- a suite of rare-Earth and heat-producing elements -- to the Moon's nearside. That concentration of elements would have contributed to the volcanism that created the nearside volcanic plains.
"We know that big impacts like the one that formed SPA would create a lot of heat," said Matt Jones, a Ph.D. candidate at Brown University and the study's lead author. "The question is how that heat affects the Moon's interior dynamics. What we show is that under any plausible conditions at the time that SPA formed, it ends up concentrating these heat-producing elements on the nearside. We expect that this contributed to the mantle melting that produced the lava flows we see on the surface."
|
Here's the original paper:
A South Pole–Aitken impact origin of the lunar compositional asymmetry
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
