A team of scientists led by geologist Dr. Tara Hayden from the University of Western Ontario found a unique mineral in the lunar meteorite they studied. Thanks to it, it can be concluded that about 4 billion years ago the lunar crust was rich in volatile elements.
Scientists say that for the first time, apatite – a mineral from the phosphate class – has been found in material that is about 4 billion years old and comes from the Moon.
– The discovery of apatite in the early lunar crust for the first time is extremely exciting because we can finally begin to piece together this unknown phase of the Moon’s history. We found that the Moon’s early crust was richer in water than we expected, and its volatile, stable isotopes reveal an even more complex history than we previously knew, says Dr. Hayden.
Past Apollo missions have produced unique and astonishing data. As specialists stated at the time, the Silver Globe is “seriously depleted” of volatile substances such as hydrogen, carbon, chlorine and sulfur. The presence of these particles indicates the simultaneous presence of water. Hence the conclusion was drawn that the Moon has always been “dry”.
However, other recent research has shown that water may also be trapped in the moon’s volcanic glass, which is found in deep and shadowed craters.
The meteorite being studied is a piece of lunar breccia that is composed of several different minerals. According to scientists, the presence of apatite was abundant here. The space rock is completely different from the samples brought back by the Apollo mission. Therefore, experts suggest that local lunar rocks tell about different phases of the history of our satellite.
– We know most about the history of water on the Moon from samples from the Apollo program, but these samples are thought to represent only about five percent of the total lunar surface. “I was fortunate that the meteorite not only came from the Moon but, surprisingly, exhibited chemical features that are so important to our knowledge of lunar aquifer minerals,” explains Dr. Hayden.
He adds: “It has long been thought that the lunar surface has been dry for thousands or even millions of years, but perhaps there may be more water on the lunar surface than we thought, and we just need to find a way to extract it.”
The research results were published in the scientific journal Nature Astronomy.
Ancient map of Rome available to tourists. It was huge © 2024 Associated Press
2024-01-21 04:50:00
#meteorite #reveals #ancient #secret #Moon #didnt #realize
