Cargando…
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...
Autores principales: | , |
---|---|
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 |
_version_ | 1783253638489047040 |
---|---|
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. |
format | Online Article Text |
id | pubmed-5533533 |
institution | National Center for Biotechnology Information |
language | English |
publishDate | 2017 |
publisher | American Association for the Advancement of Science |
record_format | MEDLINE/PubMed |
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 |
work_keys_str_mv | AT katochizu galliumisotopicevidenceforextensivevolatilelossfromthemoonduringitsformation AT moynierfrederic galliumisotopicevidenceforextensivevolatilelossfromthemoonduringitsformation |