British scientists from the University of Manchester, with the participation of colleagues from China and Sweden, have determined the exact age of the largest and oldest impact basin, the South Pole-Aitken basin on the Moon. The study was published in the scientific journal Nature Astronomy (NatAstron).
The South Pole-Aitken Basin is a giant crater on the far side of the Moon. Its diameter is about 2.4 thousand kilometers, and its depth reaches eight kilometers. It was formed due to the impacts of comets and asteroids, but the time of its appearance was known only approximately – the first 500 million years after the appearance of the Moon.
In the new study, the team analyzed the lunar meteorite Northwest Africa 2995, which was found in Algeria in 2005. It consists of various types of lunar rocks that were thrown into space as a result of a powerful impact on the surface of our planet's satellite.
After studying the amount of uranium and lead inside the meteorite, the researchers determined that the elements were between 4.32 and 4.33 billion years old.
According to scientists, the discovery of the age of the South Pole-Aitken basin is 120 million years earlier than previous estimates.
