Water in the Moon
Nature Geoscience
May 26, 2014

Water molecules detected in lunar rocks originate from various areas of the Moon's interior, and some areas are wetter than others, according to a paper published online this week in Nature Geoscience. The Moon was thought to be dry until six years ago when water was detected in lunar samples.
Katharine Robinson and G. Jeffrey Taylor compiled measurements, reported over the past six years, of water molecules trapped within various lunar samples returned by the Apollo missions. They found that the concentration of the water molecules and their chemistry varies between rock types. For example, the water concentration in volcanic glasses is consistent with an origin from magmas that were as wet as parts of the Earth’s mantle, whereas other basaltic rocks are thought to derive from much drier mantle sources.
Taken together, the measurements suggest that the distribution and chemical composition of water varies in the lunar interior-a clue to understanding how the Moon formed and evolved over time.
doi: 10.1038/ngeo2173
Research highlights
-
Jan 15
Environment: Seagrass meadows may facilitate marine plastic removal from the seaScientific Reports
-
Jan 15
Planetary Science: Mercury may have shrunk less than previously thoughtCommunications Earth&Environment
-
Jan 13
Environment: Polyester fibres found to be widespread in the ArcticNature Communications
-
Dec 23
Planetary science: Over 100,000 new craters identified on the MoonNature Communications
-
Dec 22
Conservation: Agricultural expansion could cause widespread biodiversity declines by 2050Nature Sustainability
-
Dec 18
Geology: Alpine summits may have been ice-free during life of Tyrolean IcemanScientific Reports