Early in the moon's life, its surface layers were melted by

Question

A aluminum compounds.

B heat from the sun.

C Earth's gravity.

D frequent meteor impacts.

Answer 1

D. Frequent meteor impacts

Answer 2

Instead of just giving you the answer, (which by the way is called cheating) click on this link and find the answer yourself.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moon

Answer 3

Meteor impacts.

The moon itself was formed when another planet about the size of Mars collided with earth. The impact melted the outer crust of the earth and cast it into space. This material went into orbit and gravity formed it into the moon. The moon solidified over time, but these events took place early in the history of the solar system when meteor impacts were still very common. For hundreds of thousands of years, earth was hit by a meteor the size of the one which exterminated the dinosaurs about once a week. Smaller ones must have impacted the early earth and moon on a nearly continious basis. Every impact released the energy of hundreds of atomic bombs. Unlike the moon, earth retained most of it's core material, which was rich in radioactive elements. These have kept the interior of the earth hot enough to move the surface around and reform it constantly. This is why there are no massive craters on easth, despite this planet's early history. The moon formed from the earth's crust, so there was no radioactive material to keep the core semi-molten. The moon also cooled faster than earth because it is only 1/4 the size. Because of this, the moon solidified completely and it's geology stopped. This is why the moon is still covered in craters and gives a good approximation of what earth must have looked like over a billion years ago.