New study by scientists sheds light on the origin of the Moon

Humans continue to marvel at the mysteries of the universe and one of the many aspects is the origin of the Moon A new study has brought scientists closer to solving the mystery as they have found the first definitive proof that the Moon inherited indigenous noble gases of helium and neon from the Earths mantleThe discovery published in the journal Science Advances adds to the already strong constraints on the currently favoured Giant Impact theory that hypothesises the Moon was formed by a massive collision between Earth and another celestial bodyIt also represents a significant piece of the puzzle towards understanding how the Moon and potentially the Earth and other celestial bodies were formedFor the study the team ETH Zurich analysed six samples of lunar meteorites from an Antarctic collection obtained from NASA The meteorites consist of basalt rock that formed when magma welled up from the interior of the Moon and cooled quicklyThey remained covered by additional basalt layers after their formation which protected the rock from cosmic rays and particularly the solar wind The cooling process resulted in the formation of lunar glass particles amongst the other minerals found in magmaThe team discovered that the glass particles retain the chemical fingerprints isotopic signatures of the solar gases helium and neon from the Moons interior Their findings strongly support that the Moon inherited noble gases indigenous to the EarthFinding solar gases for the first time in basaltic materials from the Moon that are unrelated to any exposure on the lunar surface was such an exciting result said Patrizia Will from ETH ZurichWithout the protection of an atmosphere asteroids continually pelt the Moons surface It likely took a highenergy impact to eject the meteorites from the middle layers of the lava flow similar to the vast plains known as the Lunar MareEventually the rock fragments made their way to Earth in the form of meteorites Many of these meteorite samples are picked up in the deserts of North Africa or in this case the cold desert of Antarctica where they are easier to spot in the landscapeKnowing where to look inside NASAs vast collection of some 70000 approved meteorites represents a major step forwardI am strongly convinced that there will be a race to study heavy noble gases and isotopes in meteoritic materials said ETH Zurich Professor Henner BusemannHe anticipates that soon researchers will be looking for noble gases such as xenon and krypton which are more challenging to identify They will also be searching for other volatile elements such as hydrogen or halogens in the lunar meteoritesWhile such gases are not necessary for life it would be interesting to know how some of these noble gases survived the brutal and violent formation of the moon Such knowledge might help scientists in geochemistry and geophysics to create new models that show more generally how such most volatile elements can survive planet formation in our solar system and beyond Busemann saidAlso Read Floodbasalt volcanic eruptions might warm climate destroy ozone layer NASAThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever