The far side of the moon is as fractured as possible, according to a new study.

Scientists believe that about 4 billion years ago, during a period called the Late Heavy Bombardment, the moon took a severe beating, as an army of asteroids pelted its surface, carving out craters and opening deep fissures in its crust. Such sustained impacts increased the moon's porosity, opening up a network of large seams beneath the lunar surface.

Now scientists at MIT and elsewhere have identified regions on the far side of the moon, called the lunar highlands, that may have been so heavily bombarded, particularly by small asteroids, that the impacts completely shattered the upper crust, leaving these regions essentially as fractured and porous as they could be.

The scientists found that further impacts to these highly porous regions may have then had the opposite effect, sealing up cracks and decreasing porosity.

Researchers analysed the gravity signatures of more than 1,200 craters (in yellow) on the far side of the moon. Image Credit: mit.edu.com

The researchers observed this effect in the upper layer of the crust, a layer that scientists refer to as the megaregolith. This layer is dominated by relatively small craters, measuring 30 kilometres or less in diameter.

In contrast, it appears that deeper layers of crust, that are affected by larger craters, are not quite as battered, and are less fractured and porous.

Research scientist Jason Soderblom says the evolution of the moon's porosity can give scientists clues to some of the earliest life-supporting processes taking place in the solar system.

The study is published in Geophysical Research Letters.