New research suggests the moon had active volcanoes when dinosaurs roamed Earth

NEW YORK (AP) — Volcanoes were still erupting on the moon when dinosaurs roamed Earth, new research suggests.

The evidence: three tiny glass beads plucked from the surface of the moon and brought to Earth in 2020 by a Chinese spacecraft. Their chemical makeup indicates that there were active lunar volcanoes until about 120 million years ago, much more recent than scientists thought.

An earlier analysis of the rock samples from the Chang’e 5 mission had suggested volcanoes petered out 2 billion years ago. Previous estimates stretched back to 4 billion years ago.

The research was published Thursday in the journal Science.

“It was a little bit unexpected,” said Julie Stopar, a senior staff scientist with the Lunar and Planetary Institute who was not involved with the research.

Images from NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter in 2014 had also suggested more recent volcanic activity. The glass beads are the first physical evidence, Stopar…