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Gallium isotopic evidence for extensive volatile loss from the Moon during its formation

The distribution and isotopic composition of volatile elements in planetary materials holds a key to the characterization of the early solar system and the Moon’s formation. The Moon and Earth are chemically and isotopically very similar. However, the Moon is highly depleted in volatile elements and...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Kato, Chizu, Moynier, Frédéric
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: American Association for the Advancement of Science 2017
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5533533/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28782027
http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.1700571
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author Kato, Chizu
Moynier, Frédéric
author_facet Kato, Chizu
Moynier, Frédéric
author_sort Kato, Chizu
collection PubMed
description The distribution and isotopic composition of volatile elements in planetary materials holds a key to the characterization of the early solar system and the Moon’s formation. The Moon and Earth are chemically and isotopically very similar. However, the Moon is highly depleted in volatile elements and the origin of this depletion is still debated. We present gallium isotopic and elemental measurements in a large set of lunar samples to constrain the origin of this volatile depletion. We show that while Ga has a geochemical behavior different from zinc, both elements show a systematic enrichment in the heavier isotopes in lunar mare basalts and Mg-suite rocks compared to the silicate Earth, pointing to a global-scale depletion event. On the other hand, the ferroan anorthosites are isotopically heterogeneous, suggesting a secondary distribution of Ga at the surface of the Moon by volatilization and condensation. The isotopic difference of Ga between Earth and the Moon and the isotopic heterogeneity of the crustal ferroan anorthosites suggest that the volatile depletion occurred following the giant impact and during the lunar magma ocean phase. These results point toward a Moon that has lost its volatile elements during a whole-scale evaporation event and that is now relatively dry compared to Earth.
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spelling pubmed-55335332017-08-04 Gallium isotopic evidence for extensive volatile loss from the Moon during its formation Kato, Chizu Moynier, Frédéric Sci Adv Research Articles The distribution and isotopic composition of volatile elements in planetary materials holds a key to the characterization of the early solar system and the Moon’s formation. The Moon and Earth are chemically and isotopically very similar. However, the Moon is highly depleted in volatile elements and the origin of this depletion is still debated. We present gallium isotopic and elemental measurements in a large set of lunar samples to constrain the origin of this volatile depletion. We show that while Ga has a geochemical behavior different from zinc, both elements show a systematic enrichment in the heavier isotopes in lunar mare basalts and Mg-suite rocks compared to the silicate Earth, pointing to a global-scale depletion event. On the other hand, the ferroan anorthosites are isotopically heterogeneous, suggesting a secondary distribution of Ga at the surface of the Moon by volatilization and condensation. The isotopic difference of Ga between Earth and the Moon and the isotopic heterogeneity of the crustal ferroan anorthosites suggest that the volatile depletion occurred following the giant impact and during the lunar magma ocean phase. These results point toward a Moon that has lost its volatile elements during a whole-scale evaporation event and that is now relatively dry compared to Earth. American Association for the Advancement of Science 2017-07-28 /pmc/articles/PMC5533533/ /pubmed/28782027 http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.1700571 Text en Copyright © 2017 The Authors, some rights reserved; exclusive licensee American Association for the Advancement of Science. No claim to original U.S. Government Works. Distributed under a Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial License 4.0 (CC BY-NC). http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/) , which permits use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, so long as the resultant use is not for commercial advantage and provided the original work is properly cited.
spellingShingle Research Articles
Kato, Chizu
Moynier, Frédéric
Gallium isotopic evidence for extensive volatile loss from the Moon during its formation
title Gallium isotopic evidence for extensive volatile loss from the Moon during its formation
title_full Gallium isotopic evidence for extensive volatile loss from the Moon during its formation
title_fullStr Gallium isotopic evidence for extensive volatile loss from the Moon during its formation
title_full_unstemmed Gallium isotopic evidence for extensive volatile loss from the Moon during its formation
title_short Gallium isotopic evidence for extensive volatile loss from the Moon during its formation
title_sort gallium isotopic evidence for extensive volatile loss from the moon during its formation
topic Research Articles
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5533533/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28782027
http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.1700571
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