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Updated: May 25, 2026

Simulation of the Planetary Interior Differentiation Processes in the Laboratory
Published on: November 15, 2013
A long-lived lunar core dynamo
Erin K Shea1, Benjamin P Weiss, William S Cassata
1Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA.
Abstract:
Paleomagnetic measurements indicate that a core dynamo probably existed on the Moon 4.2 billion years ago. However, the subsequent history of the lunar core dynamo is unknown. Here we report paleomagnetic, petrologic, and (40)Ar/(39)Ar thermochronometry measurements on the 3.7-billion-year-old mare basalt sample 10020. This sample contains a high-coercivity magnetization acquired in a stable field of at least ~12 microteslas. These data extend the known lifetime of the lunar dynamo by 500 million years. Such a long-lived lunar dynamo probably required a power source other than thermochemical convection from secular cooling of the lunar interior. The inferred strong intensity of the lunar paleofield presents a challenge to current dynamo theory.
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