Exploratour - Evolution of the Solar System
By whatever means it came to be in place, as the Moon finished forming, about 4 billion years ago, the surface was hit by the remains of the boulders which are thought to have formed the Earth. During this time the moon warmed and experienced volcanism. There is abundant evidence of volcanic plains from this time period. Toward the end of the period of bombardment by boulders, scientists think that the Moon was hit by a series of very large boulders. These collisions formed what we know today as the lunar Maria.
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Because of its small size, the Moon would have cooled very rapidly compared with the Earth. Soon, the Moon cooled completely to the form we see today. Surface activity in the form of plate tectonics and other forms of surface activity ceased once the Moon cooled. Even the interior of the Moon seems to have cooled to the form of inactivity today.
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