Humphreys on lunar magnetism

Two papers in Nature recently sought to explain the magnetic field of the early Moon as a consequence of mechanical stirring of the lunar core by tidal forces or meteorite impacts. Russ Humphreys, who has developed a creationist theory of planetary magnetism, which he has also extended to stars and galaxies, has commented on the two papers on the CMI website. He questions two of the assumptions underlying the Nature papers, namely that a self-sustaining dynamo exists in the Earth’s core and that the Moon’s core behaves similarly to the Earth’s, despite much less favourable conditions. But, he says, even with these assumptions, the new theories can only explain relatively weak remnant magnetism on the Moon, and do not explain the much greater magnetism apparently recorded by some lunar rocks. Check out his article here.

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