The surface of the Moon is pocked-marked by craters, but what is possibly the most interesting are the Ghost Craters! The moon’s black spots are the part of the surface that is made up of the rock – basalt. Basalt is a volcanic rock – formed due to lava flows. As you can see with the naked eye, those are huge regions across the surface of the moon that must have had huge lava flows.
Based on observations, it looks like the black spots or marias have formed due to huge asteroid strikes, and thus hot volcanic material oozed out of the interior of the moon to fill in the craters. What is interesting is that there are a lot of ghost craters or craters that are partially or mostly filled in within those large black marias – meaning that after the giant impact, there must have been many other impacts to form the smaller craters before the molten lava filled in the large crater making the black maria. And now the smaller craters within the maria are like ghosts within the black maria – partially visible, faint circles. Since the black lava flows have created the large marias, there have been later impacts making clear and distinct craters, but there are not that many newer craters.
All this to say that cratering appears like it has not happened slowly over billions of years, but quickly in the past – like a quick storm (possibly also triggering the worldwide flood on Earth) and less frequent since then. As is so often the case, we again see that the evidence does not need or point to billions of years of time.
See more here: https://answersingenesis.org/astronomy/moon/ghost-craters-evidence-of-a-young-moon/
By Brian Mariani
4 Comments
Considering the relative sizes of the moon and Earth and Earth’s resulting greater gravitational attraction it seems that the Earth should have been hit with many more impacts. But there does not seem to be
much consideration of this other than a passing comment that impacts
may have been significant. With about 180 confirmed impact scars
on land and who knows how many more buried under sediment and about 70% of its surface covered with oceans there seems
to be a missing part of the planet’s story.
That is a great point Charles! Thanks! Yeah, here are a couple of interesting articles that talk more about the evidence on Earth of Meteorite strikes and how it possibly may have triggered the Worldwide Flood.
This one I have already referenced: https://answersingenesis.org/astronomy/moon/ghost-craters-evidence-of-a-young-moon/
Definitely check out this one regarding meteorites on Earth in the Fossil Record: https://answersingenesis.org/the-flood/did-meteors-trigger-noahs-flood/
Thanks!
-Brian
just how sure are we that this is lava coming from the interior since its density is unusual high? could this not be metamorphed rock. I think we need to think more in terms of a much wilder body impact, which would also cause debris to end up in the lunar orbit explaining a yearly impact rout of smaller projectiles forming the gost craters. Any thoughts on this Brian?
Thanks Richard for you thoughts!
From what analyses of the rocks show, they appear to be a type of volcanic basalt (https://airandspace.si.edu/exhibitions/apollo-to-the-moon/online/science/lunar-rocks.cfm). And I agree with you that large impact could leave debris floating in space that could likely fall back to the moon even some time later after the large impacts.