<p>There was once a very active argument over vulcanism on the Moon - with the distinguished amateur astronomers <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patrick_Moore" rel="nofollow">Patrick Moore</a> and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Axel_Firsoff" rel="nofollow">V. A. Firsoff</a> the two leading advocates of vulcanism as having had a decisive impact on the Moon.</p>

<p>The Apollo programme essentially settled this argument as far as craters were concerned - no serious figure seems to doubt these are the result of impacts (though Moore was still forcefully arguing, if knowingly from a losing position, for vulcanism long after the end of Apollo).</p>

<p>For the lunar mare it is not quite so clear cut - it is not disputed that these are flood basalt plains and so are the result of some form of vulcanism. However, they also appear to lie inside impact craters and so there is a suggestion of a connection, at least, with impact.</p>

<p>There are no volcanoes on the Moon today, though there are some signs that there may be very limited vulcanism or similar activity - see <a href="http://www.armaghplanet.com/blog/whatever-happened-to-transient-lunar-phenomena.html" rel="nofollow">http://www.armaghplanet.com/blog/whatever-happened-to-transient-lunar-phenomena.html</a></p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-10-26T12:33:58.133Z
2015-10-26T12:33:58.133Z
adrianmcmenamin
<p>A new study (<a href="https://doi.org/10.1126/science.adk6635" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Wang et al. 2024</a>), based on samples returned by Chang’e-5, found evidence for &quot;recent&quot; (geologically speaking) volcanism on the Moon. The authors have identified three glass beads which have a volcanic origin (such beads can also form during impacts) and dated them at 123 ± 15 Ma. A previous study (<a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/ngeo2252" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Braden et al. 2014</a>, cited in the comments) had already found evidence for young (&lt; 100 Ma) volcanism on the Moon, but the age determination was then only an estimate based on crater distribution. To my knowledge, this new study is the first to date actual, young volcanic samples.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-09-06T07:33:41.947Z
2024-09-06T09:43:27.693Z
2024-09-06T09:43:27.693Z
Jean-Marie Prival
<p>The grey areas are known as "maria" (singular:"mare") and they were formed from flood  basalts. These are a type of volcano and they have formed on earth too, examples include the lake eruption on Iceland, and the Deccan traps, that played a role in the mass extinction 65 million years ago. </p>

<p>On the moon, the flood basalt is old. About 3-4 billion years old, with some regions probably younger, but nothing less than 1 billion. Volcanism is driven by the heat of radioactive decay. On the moon there are no longer enough radioactive elements to melt rock, and so the moon is no longer a volcanic active body. </p>

<p>There are no active volcanoes on the moon, and there is no prospect of any in the future. </p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-10-25T07:55:18.883Z
So the moon's core is completely at a solid point without any active movement or flowing magma inside its core whatsoever?
user5434678
CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-10-25T08:03:38.193Z
The moon is 4.5 billion years old.You say the flood basalt is old. About 3-4 billion years old. How old is the white areas of the moon? They should be the oldest right?
user5434678
CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-10-25T08:15:50.887Z
The Moon's core is not entirely solid  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internal_structure_of_the_Moon and http://news.discovery.com/space/history-of-space/moon-core-formation-110107.htm and it's not entirely stopped having Volcanic eruptions, though they are rare.   http://news.sciencemag.org/space/2014/10/recent-volcanic-eruptions-moon  The moon has radioactive elements below it's surface which over time, release heat.  From time to time the heat buildup escapes in a volcano.   It's mostly dead in that sense, but not entirely.
userLTK
CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-10-25T07:49:27.307Z
2015-10-25T07:49:27.307Z
James K
<p>Are the dark grey areas on the moon formed from the last lava flows from volcanoes? And that is why there are hardly any craters in those dark grey areas because the lava has covered the old craters?And If so are there still active volcanoes that are still flowing to this day?</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-10-25T07:39:24.253Z
related:   http://space.stackexchange.com/questions/2631/why-is-the-far-side-of-the-moon-so-different-from-the-near-side
userLTK
CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-10-25T19:31:40.183Z
Likely lunar volcanic activity within the last 18 million years:  http://news.sciencemag.org/space/2014/10/recent-volcanic-eruptions-moon Also http://earthsky.org/space/moon-saw-volcanic-eruptions-in-geologically-recent-times
Wayfaring Stranger
<the-moon><geology><volcanism>
Volcano activity on moon
user5434678
# Volcano activity on moon

(Asked by: username_0 on 2015-10-25)

Are the dark grey areas on the moon formed from the last lava flows from volcanoes? And that is why there are hardly any craters in those dark grey areas because the lava has covered the old craters?And If so are there still active volcanoes that are still flowing to this day?

**Tags:** the-moon, geology, volcanism

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: related:   http://space.stackexchange.com/questions/2631/why-is-the-far-side-of-the-moon-so-different-from-the-near-side  
> **username_2**: Likely lunar volcanic activity within the last 18 million years:  http://news.sciencemag.org/space/2014/10/recent-volcanic-eruptions-moon Also http://earthsky.org/space/moon-saw-volcanic-eruptions-in-geologically-recent-times  

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## 3 answers

### Answer by username_3 on 2015-10-26. Score: 2 | Accepted answer

There was once a very active argument over vulcanism on the Moon - with the distinguished amateur astronomers [Patrick Moore](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patrick_Moore) and [V. A. Firsoff](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Axel_Firsoff) the two leading advocates of vulcanism as having had a decisive impact on the Moon.

The Apollo programme essentially settled this argument as far as craters were concerned - no serious figure seems to doubt these are the result of impacts (though Moore was still forcefully arguing, if knowingly from a losing position, for vulcanism long after the end of Apollo).

For the lunar mare it is not quite so clear cut - it is not disputed that these are flood basalt plains and so are the result of some form of vulcanism. However, they also appear to lie inside impact craters and so there is a suggestion of a connection, at least, with impact.

There are no volcanoes on the Moon today, though there are some signs that there may be very limited vulcanism or similar activity - see <http://www.armaghplanet.com/blog/whatever-happened-to-transient-lunar-phenomena.html>


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### Answer by username_4 on 2024-09-06. Score: 2

A new study ([Wang et al. 2024](https://doi.org/10.1126/science.adk6635)), based on samples returned by Chang’e-5, found evidence for "recent" (geologically speaking) volcanism on the Moon. The authors have identified three glass beads which have a volcanic origin (such beads can also form during impacts) and dated them at 123 ± 15 Ma. A previous study ([Braden et al. 2014](https://doi.org/10.1038/ngeo2252), cited in the comments) had already found evidence for young (< 100 Ma) volcanism on the Moon, but the age determination was then only an estimate based on crater distribution. To my knowledge, this new study is the first to date actual, young volcanic samples.


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### Answer by username_5 on 2015-10-25. Score: 1

The grey areas are known as "maria" (singular:"mare") and they were formed from flood basalts. These are a type of volcano and they have formed on earth too, examples include the lake eruption on Iceland, and the Deccan traps, that played a role in the mass extinction 65 million years ago.

On the moon, the flood basalt is old. About 3-4 billion years old, with some regions probably younger, but nothing less than 1 billion. Volcanism is driven by the heat of radioactive decay. On the moon there are no longer enough radioactive elements to melt rock, and so the moon is no longer a volcanic active body.

There are no active volcanoes on the moon, and there is no prospect of any in the future.

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: So the moon's core is completely at a solid point without any active movement or flowing magma inside its core whatsoever?  
> **username_0**: The moon is 4.5 billion years old.You say the flood basalt is old. About 3-4 billion years old. How old is the white areas of the moon? They should be the oldest right?  
> **username_1**: The Moon's core is not entirely solid  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internal_structure_of_the_Moon and http://news.discovery.com/space/history-of-space/moon-core-formation-110107.htm and it's not entirely stopped having Volcanic eruptions, though they are rare.   http://news.sciencemag.org/space/2014/10/recent-volcanic-eruptions-moon  The moon has radioactive elements below it's surface which over time, release heat.  From time to time the heat buildup escapes in a volcano.   It's mostly dead in that sense, but not entirely.  

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