Crystal mountains found on moon

SUPERMAN'S sparkling Fortress of Solitude they're not, but giant outcrops of crystals, found on the moon by India's Chandrayaan-1 probe, prove that a roiling ocean of magma once engulfed the rocky body of our satellite. The moon is thought to have coalesced more than 4 billion years ago from the molten debris of an impact between the Earth and a Mars-sized object. Models suggest that heat from that impact, as well as from material compressing to form the moon, created a sea of magma that lasted for a few hundred million years. Heavy, iron-bearing minerals should have sunk through this magma to form the moon's mantle, while lighter, iron-poor minerals called plagioclases should have crystallised and floated to the surface.

www.newscientist.com...

WOW, basically it says that a mountain at least 40 km wide made of crystal has been found on the moon. Not only that but it is apparently 95% pure, containing less then 5% of iron rich material.

Anyways, the first thing I thought of when I read this was a Chinese legend about man (Chang Kien I think) who went to the moon and built or found a giant crystal castle there, strangely enough the mountain was found in the Orientale Basin. I don't remember the story exactly so if anyone had anymore info on that, please drop a line.

But aside from that, this discovery means we'll have to rethink quite a lot of our lunar sciences and strengthen proof that the moon was once part of Earth.

Sorry if posted before and again feel free to move.


[edit on 12-1-2010 by Occy Anonymous]

[edit on 12-1-2010 by Occy Anonymous]

WHAT???

There was a legend about a Chinese guy from history that "went to the moon" and found a "crystal castle"?

And then this massive crystal formation is found in a area named after the "Orient"??

Dude that is a wacky coincidence. However, it is just wacky enough that I am gonna take it for what it's worth. (A lot actually.)

I will share this legend + the newfound revelations with others I find.

Do not worry, I will present the Legend as is, an archaic old story of which we do not know what to make of. lol

Perhaps this explains all those moon crater photos where the crater appears to be shining in brilliant colors. Perhaps they are partially/wholly filled with this crystal substance?

Just one example of what I'm talking about.

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/8a7e649d89a0.png[/atsimg]

Interesting stuff none the less.

EDIT: I don't know much on the issue, but from what I've read in regards to these photos, they are in 'true color', I don't know how valid that is.


[edit on 12/1/2010 by serbsta]

reply to post by serbsta


But how can you say they shine brilliant colours? Ive never seen a colour photo of the moon, just black and white photos which people edit in photoshop.

www.youtube.com...
im not posting all the links to this but you will find them quite interesting.

Supposedly him and his wife both made the journey. They called the structure the fortress of cold. They both safely returned and accurately described conditions in space as well as on the moon. Amazing "myth" really

Originally posted by someguy420
Supposedly him and his wife both made the journey. They called the structure the fortress of cold. They both safely returned and accurately described conditions in space as well as on the moon. Amazing "myth" really

Or is it? It's been speculated that the greatest ancient civilizations possessed astral knowledge much more ahead of their time than the technology we have today in comparison.

Awesome find! Stuff like this is why I come here.

Always worry when I hear about stories like this , after all we've sent probes to the moon, they've discovered these 'items' but to me they are just stories and supposition without pictures.

Originally posted by Occy Anonymous

SUPERMAN'S sparkling Fortress of Solitude they're not, but giant outcrops of crystals, found on the moon by India's Chandrayaan-1 probe, prove that a roiling ocean of magma once engulfed the rocky body of our satellite. The moon is thought to have coalesced more than 4 billion years ago from the molten debris of an impact between the Earth and a Mars-sized object. Models suggest that heat from that impact, as well as from material compressing to form the moon, created a sea of magma that lasted for a few hundred million years. Heavy, iron-bearing minerals should have sunk through this magma to form the moon's mantle, while lighter, iron-poor minerals called plagioclases should have crystallised and floated to the surface.

www.newscientist.com...

WOW, basically it says that a mountain at least 40 km wide made of crystal has been found on the moon. Not only that but it is apparently 95% pure, containing less then 5% of iron rich material.

Anyways, the first thing I thought of when I read this was a Chinese legend about man (Chang Kien I think) who went to the moon and built or found a giant crystal castle there, strangely enough the mountain was found in the Orientale Basin. I don't remember the story exactly so if anyone had anymore info on that, please drop a line.

But aside from that, this discovery means we'll have to rethink quite a lot of our lunar sciences and strengthen proof that the moon was once part of Earth.

Sorry if posted before and again feel free to move.


[edit on 12-1-2010 by Occy Anonymous]

[edit on 12-1-2010 by Occy Anonymous]

Not a whole lot to rethink since the theory that the moon was once part of the Earth is the current leading theory

As cool as it may be to think of these as giant crystalline castles that someone built let's look closer at the findings here.
Bear in mind that I am no geologist, I simply read the articles and did a quick Wiki search for the types of minerals listed there. I would also like to point out that I think the word "Crystal or Crystalline" is a misunderstood term, it doesn't necessarily mean clear like glass nor artificially manufactured.
The theory for the formation of the Moon by way of a large Earth impact goes like this, after the impact;

Heavy, iron-bearing minerals should have sunk through this magma to form the moon's mantle, while lighter, iron-poor minerals called plagioclases should have crystallised and floated to the surface.
...plagioclase would have reached the surface in a series of volcanic events. But finding widespread, pure plagioclase suggests a more global process.

New Scientist

The global distribution of pure anorthosite on the Moon.
It has been thought that the lunar highland crust was formed by the crystallization and floatation of plagioclase from a global magma ocean.

Natrue Journal. Linked from original source.

The two minerals in crystalline form being discussed are;
Plagioclase
Anorthosite

Lunar rocks are in large part made of the same common rock forming minerals as found on Earth, such as olivine, pyroxene, and plagioclase feldspar (anorthosite).

Wiki-

Labradorite frequently shows an iridescent display of colors due to light refracting within the lamellae of the crystal. It is named after Labrador, where it is a constituent of the intrusive igneous rock anorthosite which is composed almost entirely of plagioclase.

Wiki Image.

I find this interesting, makes me wonder how much we really know about pure crystals and composite alloys for their specific structure, potential function and dielectric properties.

ADD: Notice the similar color in my linked Wiki image above of crystalline Labradorite and serbsta's image of Aristarchus crater on the Moon.

[edit on 1/12/2010 by Devino]

Hi, moon-curiosities fans.

To REALLY know what IS on the moon, do an IXQUICK search on ** Ingo Swann **.

Then we will all know what we are talking about. . .

Blue skies.

reply to post by Devino


The way was long, and as if enveloped in darkness,' explains Chu Yan, a Chinese poet of the third century B.C. Chinese tradition narrates the extraordinary adventure of Hou Yih, an engineer of the Emperor Yao, who decided, 4,300 years ago, to go to the moon with a 'celestial bird.' In the course of the flight, the bird indicated to the traveler the exact movements of the rising, the apogee, and the setting of the sun. Hou Yih thereafter explained that he 'sailed up the current of luminous air.' Could this current have been the exhaust of a rocket?

'He no longer perceived the rotary movement of the sun,' the narrator points out. Effectively, contemporary astronauts have noted that, in space, it was not possible to discern the diurnal passage of the sun. And what did the Chinese engineer observe on the moon? He saw 'an horizon which appeared frozen.' To protect himself from the glacial air, he built the 'Palace of the Great Cold.' His wife, Chang Ngo, left to join him on the satellite, which she described as 'a luminous sphere, brilliant as glass, of an enormous size, and very cold.'"

But no, I don't think he built any castle though he describes things in detail if this story IS based on facts I believe he simply found the "castle" or there was some kind of cave system. Still pretty cool to think about, I'm a big believer in the ancient astronaut/technology theory.

Cowboy: Oh no haha, I used bad grammar. It was First we'd have to rethink our lunar sciences. And then it strengthen proof of the already leading theory.



Heres a pic of the crater the mountains are in BTW.



[edit on 12-1-2010 by Occy Anonymous]

Amazing, Totally made my month to learn about this.
I love the moon.

Considering how crystals form, I find this a little bit hard to believe. Large Quartz crystal formation occurs in solution, normally a water based solution. Basically, the protocrystals float around in the solute and are attracted to other solute molecules and combine.

Granted, some crystal forms under heat and pressure but, w/the exception of rubies, emeralds, and diamonds, crystals formed in this way are generally micro-crystaline, not macro-crystaline like the quartz crystals that everyone is familiar with.

Interestiing article though. Will be looking out for more news of this.

One other point I think is worth mentioning is the fact that crystals can be grown in a lab and there is almost no limit to the size that can be achieved.



[edit on 15-1-2010 by Anamnesis]

[edit on 15-1-2010 by Anamnesis]

Very interesting!

I visited the link and the amount of removed comments for breach of TOU in the comments section was "interesting". I wonder what the nature of them was...

reply to post by Faustian Spirit


It was also speculated that the moon was made from cheese. Speculations are just that - speculative. They're not evidence for anything.

Well.. I had to come back and retract my disbelief. I overlooked the fact that the crystals discussed in the article are thought to be Plagioclase. It was mentioned that the crystals are 95% pure and only 5% iron, which led me to assume they were believed to be quartz macro. My mistake, Plagioclase is certainly not pure or macro but consists of Iron poor minerals and is rather heavy.

Plagioclase

If this is true, maybe these can explain Richard Hoaglands "Crystal Castle" photos. Most think of the guy as a fraud but with this news, maybe theres more to his findings than meets the eye.

[edit on 16-1-2010 by QBSneak000] to add photo




[edit on 16-1-2010 by QBSneak000]

Are you sure it's not Uranium or Plutonium?

[edit on 16-1-2010 by SpiritHipHop]