Overview
- Peer-reviewed research in Nature Geoscience reinterprets Apollo-era paleomagnetism using rock chemistry to reconstruct the Moon’s field history.
- Reanalysis shows every sample that preserved a strong field was high in titanium, whereas basalts with less than about six percent titanium recorded weak magnetism.
- The team concludes the Moon experienced short, intense surges roughly 3 to 4 billion years ago that lasted decades to no more than about 5,000 years, at times stronger than Earth’s field.
- Researchers attribute the surges to melting of titanium-rich material deep inside the Moon that temporarily supercharged the dynamo.
- The study predicts that rocks gathered outside the lunar mare—such as Artemis south polar targets—will mostly show weak magnetism, offering a near-term test of the model.