The Oriental Moon Basin seen by NASA’s lunar reconnaissance spacecraft. Credit: NASA GSFC
Billions of years ago, a series of volcanic eruptions raged on the moon, covering hundreds of thousands of square miles of the surface of the orb in hot lava. Over the eons, this lava creates dark spots or maria, which give the face of the moon its distinctive appearance today.
Now a new study from the University of Colorado BUDER (CU Boulder) suggests that volcanoes may have left another lasting impact on the lunar surface: ice sheets that pierce the moon’s poles and in some places can measure tens or even hundreds of feet. thick.
“We present it as the moon’s frost, which accumulates over time,” said Andrew Wilcoski, lead author of the new study and a graduate student in the Department of Astrophysics and Planetary Science (APS) and the Laboratory of Atmospheric and Space Physics (LASP) at CU. Boulder.
He and his colleagues published their findings this month in The Planetary Science Journal.
Scientists believe that the snake-like Schroeter Valley on the Moon was created by lava flowing over the surface. Credit: NASA Johnson
Researchers used computer simulations or models to try to recreate the conditions of the moon long before complex life appeared on Earth. They found that ancient lunar volcanoes emit huge amounts of water vapor, which then settles to the surface – forming ice reserves that can still be hidden in lunar craters. If humans were alive at the time, they may have even seen a particle of this frost near the boundary between day and night on the moon’s surface.
This is a potential reward for future researchers on the moon who will need drinking water and processing into rocket fuel, said study co-author Paul Hane.
“It is possible to have large ice sheets 5 or 10 meters below the surface,” said Hane, an APS and LASP assistant.
Temporary atmospheres
The new study adds to the growing body of evidence that suggests the moon may be submerged in much more water than scientists once believed. In a 2020 study, Hane and colleagues estimated that nearly 6,000 square miles of lunar surface could be trapped and hooked on ice – mostly near the moon’s north and south poles. It is not clear where all this water comes from.
“There are a lot of potential sources right now,” Hane said.
Volcanoes can be huge. The planetologist explained that from 2 to 4 billion years ago the moon was a chaotic place. Tens of thousands of volcanoes erupted on its surface during this period, generating huge rivers and lava lakes, unlike the characteristics you can see in Hawaii today – only much larger.
A depiction of what frost may have formed on the surface of the moon billions of years ago. Credit: Paul Hane
“They surpass almost all eruptions on Earth,” Hane said.
Recent research by scientists from the Lunar and Planetary Institute in Houston shows that these volcanoes may also have emitted towering clouds, composed mostly of carbon monoxide and water vapor. These clouds then swirl around the moon, potentially creating a thin and short-lived atmosphere.
This made Hane and Wilcoski wonder: Could the same atmosphere have left ice on the lunar surface, a bit like frost forming on the ground after a cold autumn night?
Forever ice
To find out, the duo, along with Margaret Landis, a research associate at LASP, tried to ascend to the moon billions of years ago.
The team uses estimates that at its peak, the moon experienced an eruption on average every 22,000 years. Researchers then tracked how volcanic gases may have swirled around the moon, escaping into space over time. And they found that the conditions may have become icy. The group estimates that approximately 41% of volcanic water may have condensed on the moon as ice.
“The atmosphere has escaped for about 1,000 years, so there was plenty of time for ice to form,” Wilcoski said.
In fact, there may have been so much ice on the moon that you might notice the glow of frost and thick, polar ice caps from Earth. The group estimates that about 18 quadrillion pounds of volcanic water could condense as ice during this period. That’s more water than is currently found in Lake Michigan. And research suggests that much of this lunar water may still be present today.
However, these space ice cubes will not necessarily be easy to find. Most of this ice has probably accumulated near the poles of the moon and may be buried under a few feet of moon dust or regolith.
Another reason, Hane said, is for humans or robots to come back and start digging.
“We really need to research and look for him,” he said.
Reference: “Accumulation of polar ice from volcanically induced transitional atmospheres of the Moon” by Andrew H. Wilcoski, Paul O. Hain and Margaret E. Landis, May 3, 2022, The Planetary Science Journal.DOI: 10.3847 / PSJ / ac649c
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