A series of volcanic eruptions erupted on the moon billions of years ago, covering hundreds of millions of square miles of the orb's surface in boiling lava. That lava generated the dark blotches, or maria, that give the moon's face its characteristic appearance today over ages.
Volcanoes may have left another enduring influence on the lunar surface, according to new study from the University of Colorado Boulder (CU Boulder): sheets of ice that dot the moon's poles and can be dozens or even hundreds of feet thick in some spots.
Andrew Wilcoski, main author of the new study and a graduate student in the Department of Astrophysical and Planetary Sciences (APS) and the Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics (LASP) at CU Boulder, described it as "a frost on the moon that built up over time."
His findings were published in The Planetary Science Journal this month by him and his colleagues.
To try to reproduce circumstances on the moon long before sophisticated life developed on Earth, the researchers used computer simulations, or models. They observed that ancient moon volcanoes sprayed massive amounts of water vapour onto the surface, generating ice deposits that could still be found in lunar craters. If any humans had been alive at the time, they might have observed a sliver of ice on the moon's surface at the day-night divide.
According to research co-author Paul Hayne, "it's a potential reward for future moon travellers who will require water to consume and turn into rocket fuel."
"It's feasible that there are large sheets of ice 5 or 10 metres beneath the surface," said Hayne, an assistant professor of APS and LASP.
Temporary environments
The latest research adds to a growing body of evidence indicating that the moon may be drenched in far more water than previously thought. Hayne and his colleagues predicted that almost 6,000 square miles of the lunar surface, particularly around the moon's north and south poles, could be capable of catching and hanging onto ice in a 2020 research. It's unknown where all that water originated from in the first place.
"Right now, there are a number of prospective sources," Hayne added.
Volcanoes could be a significant factor. The moon was a tumultuous environment from 2 to 4 billion years ago, according to the planetary scientist. During this time, tens of thousands of volcanoes erupted across the continent, creating massive lava rivers and lakes similar to those found in Hawaii today—only much larger.
"They dwarf nearly all of Earth's eruptions," Hayne said.
According to new study from the Lunar and Planetary Institute in Houston, these volcanoes are also believed to have expelled massive clouds of carbon monoxide and water vapour. These clouds then swirled around the moon, possibly forming thin, transient atmospheres.
That got Hayne and Wilcoski thinking: Could the same environment have caused ice to build on the lunar surface, similar to how frost forms on the ground after a cold autumn night?
Ice that lasts forever
To find out, the two set out with Margaret Landis, a research associate at LASP, to attempt to land on the moon's surface billions of years ago.
The researchers used estimations that the moon erupted once every 22,000 years on average during its peak. The researchers then followed how volcanic gases swirled about the moon, eventually escaping into space. They also realised that the weather had turned frosty.
According to the group's calculations, about 41% of the water from volcanoes may have condensed as ice on the moon.
"The atmospheres fled over around 1,000 years," Wilcoski explained, "so there was plenty of time for ice to form."
It's possible that there was so much ice on the moon that you might have seen a coating of frost and thick polar ice caps from Earth. During that time, the group projected that about 18 quadrillion pounds of volcanic water may have solidified as ice. That's more water than Lake Michigan currently has. According to the research, much of that lunar water may still exist today.
Those space ice cubes, on the other hand, will not be simple to come by. The majority of the ice has accumulated at the moon's poles and may be buried beneath several feet of regolith, or lunar dust.
Another motivation, according to Hayne, for people or robots to return to the site and begin digging.
He stated, "We really need to drill down and look for it."
Andrew X. Wilcoski, Paul O. Hayne, and Margaret E. Landis, "Polar Ice Accumulation from Volcanically Induced Transient Atmospheres on the Moon," The Planetary Science Journal, 3 May 2022.
PSJ/ac649c (DOI: 10.3847/PSJ/ac649c)
0 Comments