Although it was formerly thought that the Luna was dry, the samples collected by the Apollo missions in the 70s already revealed the existence of agua trapped in minerals from the lunar interior. Orbiters have also detected it over the entire lunar surface, especially at the poles.
The scientists believed that the interaction of solar wind with the soil materials of our satellite it could produce water and maintain a cycle of this element there. However, no aqueous reservoir had been identified on the lunar surface. Now an international team led from China believes it has found it, as published in the magazine Nature Geoscience.
The results reveal that the water stored in the impact glass ‘beads’ (IGB) collected from the lunar soil by the Chang’e 5 spacecraft is consistent with a solar wind origin
It is about the impact glass ‘beads’ (IGB, for its acronym in English), formed by the cooling of molten material expelled after the constant bombardment of asteroids that, in the form of meteorites, fall on the Moon. This granular material is scattered over its entire surface and can store substantial amounts of water due to the effects of solar winds.
The investigator Huicun He of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, along with other colleagues from his country and the United Kingdom, has analyzed the water content of these IGBs thanks to the lunar soil samples collected by the Chang’e 5 spacecraft. This probe landed on the moon in December 2020 and that same month he brought the collected material back to Earth for analysis.
After measuring the abundance, hydrogen isotopic composition, and core-to-water-edge variations in IGBs extracted from lunar soil, the results reveal that the water they store is consistent with a solar wind origin. For example, the characteristic signature of an isotope of positively charged hydrogen (H+).
Accumulation of water by diffusion
Furthermore, the distribution of water into individual ‘beads’ indicates that H20 can rapidly accumulate in them by diffusion, on time scales of only a few years, and be released rapidly. The authors suggest that this presents an efficient recharging mechanism to drive an active water cycle on the Moon’s surface.
“Las IGB they preserve hydration signatures and show an abundance of water consistent with the inward diffusion of water derived from the solar wind,” they point out. Huicun He and his colleagues. “Diffusion modeling estimates diffusion times of less than 15 years at a temperature of 360 K (86.85 °C). These short diffusion times suggest an efficient water recharge mechanism that could sustain the water cycle on the lunar surface.”
The amount of water stored in these impact glass balls in lunar soils can reach 2.7 × 1014 kg
The researchers point out in their study: “We estimate that the amount of water stored in these impact glass balls in lunar soils can reach 2,7 × 1014 kg. Our direct measurements of this lunar surface water reservoir show that IGBs can store substantial amounts of water derived from the solar wind on the Moon.”
The authors note that the water trapped in these impact glass ‘beads’ could represent a Potential water resource for future exploration of the Moon, since, according to them, it is relatively easy to extract. They also conclude that this type of glassy material can house similar water deposits in other airless bodies.
Fuente: EFE/SINC
Rights: Creative Commons.