Moon had oceans? ISRO's Chandrayaan-3 uncovers lunar's oceanic mystery

New data from Indian Space Research Organisation's (ISRO) ambitious project, Chandrayaan-3 mission, has revealed that the theory of Moon once being covered in an ocean of magma, or a 'magma ocean' could be acutally possible, an analysis, published in the journal Nature, has suggested.

The analysis pertained to measurements of the lunar soil, recorded by the Pragyan rover and taken at multiple points along a 100-metre track on the surface.

Moon's magma ocean theory:
The ananlysis made by experts has been derived from geographically distant locations supports the lunar magma ocean hypothesis. The hypothesis provides one of the possible explanations of how the Moon's crust, mantle, and core formed.


According to the hypothesis, Moon was formed as a result of collision between two protoplanets (stage preceding planet formation). While the bigger planet became the Earth, the smaller became the Moon.

As a result, the Moon became very hot, thereby, melting its entire mantle into a 'magma ocean,' the theory suggests.

It further states that as the Moon cooled while it was forming, less dense FAN floated to the surface, whereas heavier minerals sank to form the mantle, which lies underneath the crust. Therefore, the theory posits that the Moon's crust is largely made of FAN.

However, the analysis also revealed that Pragyan detected magnesium in the lunar soil, which the researchers said could not be explained by the lunar magma ocean, or LMO, hypothesis.

They added that the hypothesis has been questioned by some studies based on recent re-analysis of many samples procured during Apollo's mission.

"Although alternative scenarios exist, the APXS-measured composition, its uniformity over regional scales and the geological context support the LMO hypothesis," the authors wrote.

An Alpha Particle X-ray Spectrometer, or APXS, aboard the Pragyan rover was used to collect information about elements in the soil in the vicinity of the Chandrayaan-3 landing site, which was named the 'Shiv Shakti Point' on August 26, 2023.