51 
Imagine looking up to the sky every night just to see the Halloween orange and chimney red glow from dozens of volcanoes on the surface of the Moon. According to new research paper just published in Nature Geosciences, humans could be able to enjoy such a show in the future.
Using recent moonquake information gathered by the seismometers installed during the Apollo missions, NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center planetary Dr. Renee Weber Project, says that about thirty per cent of the lunar mantle surrounding the Moon’s metallic core is molten. Weber, who is in charge of the the Lunar Mapping and Modeling project, claims that this liquid lava is about 745 and 838 miles deep.
So why there are no active volcanoes right now? The Moon’s surface is dead and, in fact, we know that the last eruptions happened billions of years ago. Perhaps this means there will be future eruptions? A group of scientists led by Mirjam van Kan Parker and Wim van Westrenen from VU University Amsterdam, may have found the answer.
Since we can’t access the lava, they solved the puzzle using an ingenious technique. First they got some samples from the 350 kilograms of rocks brought back by the Apollo missions. Then they put those rocks under the same conditions in which that molten Moon lava is: more than 45,000 bars of pressure and about 1500 degrees Celsius.
After creating this artificial lava, they used the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility in Grenoble to analyse it using powerful X-rays. With that data, they created a computer simulation, which found out that the Moon’s magma is very rich in titanium. This makes it way too heavy to flow into the surface. Lava needs to be lighter than its surroundings in order for it to erupt into the surface, but this is not the case with the Moon.
According to van Westrenen, “after descending, magma formed from these near-surface rocks, very rich in titanium, and accumulated at the bottom of the mantle — a bit like an upside-down volcano. Today, the Moon is still cooling down, as are the melts in its interior.” That solves the why there are no volcanoes questions. But what about the future?
In the distant future, the cooler and therefore solidifying melt will change in composition, likely making it less dense than its surroundings. This lighter magma could make its way again up to the surface forming an active volcano on the Moon — what a sight that would be!
What a sight indeed! Sadly, none of us will be here to see it, as this process will take millions of years. [Nature Geosciences via Eurekalert]
Quick, Freeze me. I must wake in time to see the moon shower hot lava down onto the earth.
This begs the question of how Volcanoes would work on the moon, with it’s much lighter gravity would gases and ejected matter reach escape velocity or just cover the moon in a dust cloud?
it might just let out an almighty bottom burp and fly around the earth like a deflating balloon.
If you want to see a red planet, why not just look at Mars?
Jesus, you have the journal name wrong. Nature Geoscience, not Geosciences.
mooncano sounds like low budget horror movie
Now there’s a film I’d buy out of the remaindered bin once it goes direct to video. Here’s the plot. A group of astronauts on a mission to find water on the moon instead set off a seismic event and have to get away before their ship is engulfed in molten lava.
Dammit, now you’ve got me thinking about it and I’ve developed a full plot outline in my head. Young Hotshot Captain, grizzled veteran luna geologist, Apparently hard as nails but secretly vulnerable female pilot who has feelings for them both, Snooty French (or if US is putting up the money ,English) guy representing ESA, Japanese tech wizard and taciturn Russian stereotype to act as a redshirt.
They go to the moon to extract water so that a permanent luna base can be set up. they have a machine for splitting water into hydrogen (for fuel) and oxygen (to breath) and some large empty tanks that will me filled and left for the colonists. While drilling for the water they cause an explosive outgassing and release the magma. Unfortunately the explosion throws up a chunk of moon rock/drilling equipment which punctures their ships fueltank. their only hope is to go back to the drill site and get some water to make more hydrogen.
I see a climatic scene where the grizzled geologist is standing on a huge chunk of luna ice with lava all around him sacrificing himself to collect the resulting steam so everyone else (except the Russian who died earlier) can escape.
There are ice volcanoes on other planets with much less gravity and they just eject matter into space.