Scientists have discovered a heat-emitting mass of granite buried beneath the surface on the far side of the moon, which likely formed from a dormant volcano that last erupted over 3.5 billion years ago.
In a study published on July 5 in the journal Nature, scientists reported the discovery of a 50-kilometers-wide batholith—a type of volcanic rock formed when lava ascends into the Earth’s crust but does not erupt onto the surface—on the far side of the moon.
“We have discovered extra heat coming out of the ground at a location on the moon believed to be a long dead volcano which last erupted over 3.5 billion years ago,” lead author Matthew Siegler of the Planetary Science Institute said in a statement….