A team at ETH Zurich analyzed gravity and magnetic field measurements from lunar orbit (GRAIL gravity data and magnetic models from Lunar Prospector and Kaguya) to resolve whether the Moon once hosted an internal dynamo. They focused on the Dewar region on the far side, where a strong magnetic anomaly coincides with a distinct gravity high. Joint inversion of the datasets reveals a dense, strongly magnetized rock body about 60 km across and extending roughly 9 km deep, interpreted as a buried volcanic complex of solidified magma. Surface stratigraphy and impact deposits date the structure to about 4.2 billion years ago.
Using the inferred iron content of that intrusive body, the team estimates the minimum ambient field during slow cooling exceeded 10 microtesla - roughly one-fifth to one-third of today’s Earth field - too large to be easily explained by transient impact magnetization given Dewar’s location. The findings therefore support an early core-generated lunar dynamo, though the mechanism for producing such a strong field in a small core remains unresolved. The study also links the anomaly to a nearby lunar swirl whose horizontal surface field could deflect the solar wind, with implications for site selection, sample interpretation, and applying the combined gravity-magnetics method to other planets.
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