Volcanoes on the Moon Could've Been Erupting in the Time of the Dinosaurs - Sydney Morning Herald

Grace Longwell
Volcanoes on Moon While Dinosaurs on Earth?

http://www.smh.com.au/technology/sci-tech/astronomy/volcanoes-on-the-moon-could-have-been-erupting-in-the-time-of-the-dinosaurs-20141015-116pem.html

In this article by Amina Khan, there is evidence presented that leads to the belief of past volcanoes on the surface of our own moon! Before recently, the moon was believed to have been dead for millions of years now, since its formation there had been no known activity until NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter  (LRO) discovered some things. It has been known for awhile now that the dark patches (maria) on the face of the moon are a product of past volcanic activity. Recently, in a study at Arizona State University, the LRO has found smooth, round areas in places of usually choppy land. Using other rock samples, these areas have been dated to around 100-18 million years old, or during the Cretaceous period on our planet. While the dinosaurs were roaming this earth, there could have been lava spewing from volcanoes on our moon!

The main problem in this investigation of the moon's past is that there is no way to get the rocks from these supposed volcanic remains back to earth to radiometrically date. Radiometric dating is a concept we covered in our last chapter. It is the use of radioactive isotopes (unstable atoms of elements with more neutrons than usual) to track the breakdown of the nucleus by measuring its half life, or the time it takes for half the nucleus to decay. If it is known that half the nucleus is left, then 1 half life has gone by, and so on. Apollo astronauts have brought back samples from the moon, which have been radiometrically dated to use as a reference point for these features. The next step in proving these volcanoes' existence is bringing samples back to Earth and radiometrically dating them in a lab.