Early formation of the Moon 4.51 billion years ago

Melanie Barboni, Patrick Boehnke, Brenhin Keller, Issaku E. Kohl, Blair Schoene, Edward D. Young, Kevin D. McKeegan

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

164 Scopus citations

Abstract

Establishing the age of the Moon is critical to understanding solar system evolution and the formation of rocky planets, including Earth. However, despite its importance, the age of the Moon has never been accurately determined. We present uranium-lead dating of Apollo 14 zircon fragments that yield highly precise, concordant ages, demonstrating that they are robust against postcrystallization isotopic disturbances. Hafnium isotopic analyses of the same fragments show extremely low initial 176Hf/177Hf ratios corrected for cosmic ray exposure that are near the solar system initial value. Our data indicate differentiation of the lunar crust by 4.51 billion years, indicating the formation of the Moon within the first ~60 million years after the birth of the solar system.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Article numbere1602365
JournalScience Advances
Volume3
Issue number1
DOIs
StatePublished - Jan 2017

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • General

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Early formation of the Moon 4.51 billion years ago'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this