Scientists think that the Moon was formed as a result of an object the size of Mars hitting the young Earth. As a result of this collision, some of the Earth’s mass may have been thrown into orbit and this material may have combined to form the Moon. After this point, it is predicted that the Moon will have a magma ocean that covers the entire surface, and that this ocean will rapidly cool and harden. However, analyzes performed on zircon crystals taken from the Moon do not coincide with this scenario.
Zircon crystals enable precise age calculations based on the uranium and lead ratios they contain. Researchers determined that the age of zircon crystals on the Moon is between 4.46 and 4.51 billion years old. This data seems incompatible with the existence of a magma ocean. It does not seem possible for zircon crystals to form and survive in such an environment.
To resolve this incompatibility, geologist Francis Nimmo and his team from the University of California Santa Cruz suggested that the Moon re-melted and underwent a crustal transformation 4.35 billion years ago. New findings show that the age of the Moon is between 4.43 and 4.53 billion years.
