HUGE HEAT-EMITTING GRANITE MASS ON THE MOON DISCOVERED

We end this week's blogs with an unusual story entirely unrelated to planet Earth's financial schemes and woes.  In fact, this story was spotted in so many versions by so many of you, that it actually immediately was filed in my "finals" folder for this week's blogs. Indeed, I think I can safely say that this story may have been one of this websites all-time top ten stories, judging by the numbers of emails from different people  that shared it (over 30!).  So I'm going to concentrate on the Zero Hedge version of the story which first reached my inbox from E.E. and G.P.(though many others of you shared the same version of the story):

Heat Is Radiating From A Huge Mass Under The Moon

As the article points out, this heat-emitting mass appears to be sub-surface granite on the far side of the Moon, which, for the scientists, confirm the theory that the celestial body may have at one time been home to volcanism:

In an unprecedented discovery, scientists have unearthed a colossal granite mass that has been gradually emitting heat, hidden beneath a lunar crater. This discovery is not a figment of science fiction, but a testament to the Moon’s volcanic past. While the Moon’s history of lava fields and eruptions is well-documented, the discovery of a more Earth-like volcano was a first, found beneath the Compton and Belkovich craters on the Moon’s far side.

Granite, a rock type rarely found outside of Earth, has sparked excitement among the scientific community. On Earth, granite forms deep beneath the surface, typically under a volcano, where magma cools down and crystallizes. The formation of granite is significantly aided by the presence of water and plate tectonics.

The research team utilized data from both Chinese and American lunar orbiters to uncover this heat-emitting mass beneath the lunar surface, revealing a volcanic process previously unseen on the Moon. “We used an instrument that observes microwave wavelengths, longer than infrared, sent to the Moon on both the Chinese Chang’E 1 and 2 orbiters. We found that one of these suspected volcanoes, known as Compton-Belkovich, was absolutely glowing at microwave wavelengths,” explained co-lead researcher Dr. Matt Siegler, of the Planetary Science Institute.

In short, what the discovery means is that the Moon is still a kind of geophysically active body, and not the dead and (geophysically)lifeless and inert body of the popular imagination, even though this "volcanism" ceased long ago.

But wait just a minute, there's something else about this  granite that grabbed my attention, and which prompts today's extremely high octane speculation:

The temperature in this area is 10°C warmer than its surroundings. However, this heat is not from magma beneath the surface, as the volcano’s last eruption was 3.5 billion years ago. Instead, the heat comes from radioactive elements trapped in the rocks.

“We interpret this heat flux as resulting from a radiogenic-rich granite body below the caldera,” Dr. Siegler said.

“We were a bit puzzled when we found it. Fortunately, my wife, Dr. Rita Economos, is the geochemist in the family, so with her guidance, we were able to piece together the probable geologic cause of the heat anomaly.”

Dr. Economos further explained, “This find is a 50km wide batholith; a batholith is a type of volcanic rock that forms when lava rises into the earth’s crust but does not erupt onto the surface. El Capitan and Half Dome, in Yosemite in California, are examples of similar granite rocks which have risen to the surface.”

The discovery of such a large granite deposit in an unexpected location suggests that there could be other areas of the Moon where granite can be found, and possibly in other parts of the Solar System as well.

And, just for wild-and wooly high octane speculation's sake, let's recall one other feature of the standard model of lunar geophysical theory, the volcanism-basaltic rock theory:

The Moon’s volcanic activity is believed to have played a crucial role in shaping its surface. The lunar maria, the dark plains seen on the Moon’s surface, are vast basaltic plains formed by ancient volcanic eruptions. These maria cover about 16% of the lunar surface, mainly on the near-side visible from Earth.

What I've always had a problem with is why so much volcanic activity on the Moon should have been concentrated on mostly that side of the body closest to Earth.  Was this the result of some sort of "tidal lock" effect on the Moon?  If so, then why the radioactive granite volcanism of this recent discovery on the far side?

Howsoever one answers that question, the presence of granite on the Moon raises, for me, a wholly different set of questions of a very different nature. Many of the readers of this website and of my various books will be aware of the presence on the lunar surface of a number of anomalous objects, including the famous (or if one prefer, infamous) Blair Cuspids:

One notes that in addition to these "spires" casting what appear to be well-defined shadows with sharp edges, including even an apparent "obelisk" shaped shadow for the largest one, they also appear to be laid out in a pattern, with three in a straight line, a smaller object above them casting a regular and sharp pyramidal shadow, and then the very tall "spire" casting the obelisk-like shadow.

So what as all this to do with the discovery of granite on the Moon?

By now I rather suspect regular readers of this website or of my books know where I'm going with this: does the presence of granite on the Moon perhaps indicate that it, a favorite rock of pyramid builders on the Earth, was also used to construct such structures on the Moon?  Possibly. And if granite is present on the Moon, then why not on other celestial neighbors, like Mars, which, again, unquestionably has anomalous features on its surface, many of them, like the Blair Cuspids, casting rather oddly regular shadows, again, like obelisks and pyramids.

What I'm suggesting here, in short, is that the presence of granite on our nearest celestial neighbor makes it more likely, rather than less likely, that these and similar anomalous features on the lunar and Martian surface might indeed be artificial, and indeed, the products of a common culture or civilization. We have a resemblance not only of form, in these anomalies, but of substance, material, and perhaps even of construction, if we are ever able to obtain up close human examination of them.

In short, this discovery of granite on the Moon may eventually prove to be one of the most significant we've ever made, but possibly not quite for the reasons that excite geophysicists, but rather, extra-terrestrial archaeologists...

See you on the flip side...