Researcher takes moon's internal temperatures, gains insights into inner structures

April 2 (UPI) -- Rhode Island researcher Ananya Mallik has managed to more precisely estimate the moon's internal temperature. As a result, scientists are now closer to understanding the inner structures of the moon.

Through a series of experiments, Mallik determined the temperature at the moon's mantle-core boundary is between 1,300 and 1,470 degrees Celsius.

"In order to understand the interior structure of the moon today, we needed to nail down the thermal state better," Ananya Mallik, an assistant professor of geosciences at the University of Rhode Island, said in a news release. "Now we have the two anchor points -- the core-mantle boundary and the surface temperature measured by Apollo -- and that will help us create a temperature profile through the moon. We need that temperature profile to determine the internal state, structure and composition of the moon."

The moon's core is iron, and seismic data suggests 5 to 30 percent of the mantle-core boundary material is liquid or molten.

"The big question is, why would we have some melt present in the Moon at that depth," Mallik said.

In labs at the Bavarian Research Institute of Experimental Geochemistry and Geophysics in Germany, Mallik subjected a sample of moon-like material to intense pressure using a multi-anvil device -- the kind of pressure experienced deep inside the moon's interior. Mallik also used a graphite heater to raise the temperature of the material until it began to partially melt.

"The goal was to determine what temperature range would produce a 5 to 30 percent melt, which would tell us the temperature range of the core-mantle boundary," she said.

The previous temperature estimate for the mantle-core boundary spanned an 800 degree range. The more precise estimate achieved by Mallik -- detailed this week in the journal Geochimica et Cosmochimica -- will allow researchers to create a more accurate profile of the moon's inner structures and mineral makeup.

Because the evolution of the moon and Earth are linked, Mallik claims new insights into the history of the moon's geological evolution could help planetary scientists better understand Earth's past.

"Earth is complicated," Mallik said. "Any similarity in the composition between Earth and the Moon can give us insight into how these two planetary bodies were formed, what were the energetics of the collision, and how elements were partitioned between them."