The Moon may be older than previously estimated: Scientists from 3 countries reveal

Research conducted by scientists from the USA, France, and Germany has revealed intriguing findings about the Moon. The Moon may be 100 million years older than previously thought. New research results, based on the age of zircon crystals, indicate that the Moon is between 4.43 and 4.53 billion years old.

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The Moon may be older than previously estimated: Scientists from 3 countries reveal

New findings about the Moon have been revealed through a study conducted by scientists from the US, France, and Germany.

Scientists believe that the Moon was formed as a result of a Mars-sized object colliding with the young Earth. As a result of this collision, a portion of Earth's mass may have been ejected into orbit, and this material coalesced to form the Moon.

From that point on, it is predicted that the Moon had a magma ocean covering its entire surface, and that this ocean cooled and solidified rapidly. However, analyses performed on zircon crystals taken from the Moon do not align with this scenario.

Zircon crystals allow for precise age calculations based on the ratios of uranium and lead they contain.

Researchers determined the age of the zircon crystals on the Moon to be between 4.46 and 4.51 billion years. This data appears inconsistent with the existence of a magma ocean.

In such an environment, it does not seem possible for zircon crystals to form and survive.

Geologist Francis Nimmo and his team from the University of California, Santa Cruz, proposed that to resolve this discrepancy, the Moon underwent a crustal transformation by re-melting 4.35 billion years ago.