Many years ago, Apollo astronauts brought back strange glass balls from the moon, some of which were orange and some black. Many years later, scientists were finally able to study them using modern methods and discovered a lot of valuable information about the past of our moon.
Beads from the Moon
When the Apollo astronauts were on the Moon, they collected a large number of samples of the rocks that make up its surface. Among them were strange “beads” — glass balls less than a millimeter in diameter, which were mainly found inside rocks. Some of them were orange, while others were black.
The age of the samples in which they were found was estimated to be between 3.3 and 3.6 billion years old, and even then it was clear that these were volcanic samples. However, there was no equipment available at the time to study them thoroughly, so scientists simply removed them from the samples and preserved them to avoid exposure to the Earth’s atmosphere, which could have destroyed them.
Moon’s fiery past
And now scientists have finally obtained the beads and subjected them to comprehensive study. The study relied in part on NanoSIMS 50, a device from the University of Washington that uses a high-energy ion beam to break down small samples of material for analysis.
Scientists discovered that the balls were indeed formed when hot lava hit the surface. At the same time, at least in some cases, it was not just a matter of leaks, but of actual fire fountains.
Scientists are becoming increasingly convinced that, despite its current tranquility, our moon’s past was extremely turbulent. At least during the first billion years of its existence, explosions thundered and lava flowed there. It is quite possible that such conditions persisted in some areas even longer.
According to phys.org
