1
|
Yu S, Xiao X, Gong S, Tosi N, Huang J, Breuer D, Xiao L, Ni D. Long-lived lunar volcanism sustained by precession-driven core-mantle friction. Natl Sci Rev 2024; 11:nwad276. [PMID: 38213526 PMCID: PMC10776352 DOI: 10.1093/nsr/nwad276] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/03/2023] [Revised: 10/11/2023] [Accepted: 10/29/2023] [Indexed: 01/13/2024] Open
Abstract
Core-mantle friction induced by the precession of the Moon's spin axis is a strong heat source in the deep lunar mantle during the early phase of a satellite's evolution, but its influence on the long-term thermal evolution still remains poorly explored. Using a one-dimensional thermal evolution model, we show that core-mantle friction can sustain global-scale partial melting in the upper lunar mantle until ∼3.1 Ga, thus accounting for the intense volcanic activity on the Moon before ∼3.0 Ga. Besides, core-mantle friction tends to suppress the secular cooling of the lunar core and is unlikely to be an energy source for the long-lived lunar core dynamo. Our model also favours the transition of the Cassini state before the end of the lunar magma ocean phase (∼4.2 Ga), which implies a decreasing lunar obliquity over time after the solidification of the lunar magma ocean. Such a trend of lunar obliquity evolution may allow volcanically released water to be buried in the lunar regolith of the polar regions. As a consequence, local water ice could be more abundant than previously thought when considering only its accumulation caused by solar wind and comet spreading.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Shuoran Yu
- State Key Laboratory of Lunar and Planetary Sciences, Macau University of Science and Technology, Macau 999078, China
| | - Xiao Xiao
- Planetary Science Institute, State Key Laboratory of Geological Processes and Mineral Resources, School of Earth Sciences, China University of Geosciences, Wuhan 430074, China
| | - Shengxia Gong
- CAS Key Laboratory of Planetary Sciences, Shanghai Astronomical Observatory, Shanghai 200030, China
| | - Nicola Tosi
- Institute of Planetary Research, German Aerospace Centre (DLR), Berlin 12489, Germany
| | - Jun Huang
- Planetary Science Institute, State Key Laboratory of Geological Processes and Mineral Resources, School of Earth Sciences, China University of Geosciences, Wuhan 430074, China
| | - Doris Breuer
- Institute of Planetary Research, German Aerospace Centre (DLR), Berlin 12489, Germany
| | - Long Xiao
- Planetary Science Institute, State Key Laboratory of Geological Processes and Mineral Resources, School of Earth Sciences, China University of Geosciences, Wuhan 430074, China
| | - Dongdong Ni
- State Key Laboratory of Lunar and Planetary Sciences, Macau University of Science and Technology, Macau 999078, China
| |
Collapse
|
2
|
Schörghofer N, Rufu R. Past extent of lunar permanently shadowed areas. SCIENCE ADVANCES 2023; 9:eadh4302. [PMID: 37703378 PMCID: PMC10499310 DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.adh4302] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/02/2023] [Accepted: 08/11/2023] [Indexed: 09/15/2023]
Abstract
As the Moon migrated away from Earth, it experienced a major spin axis reorientation. Permanently shadowed regions (PSRs), which are thought to have trapped ices and are a main focus of lunar exploration, appeared and grew after this (Cassini state) transition and are often younger than their host craters. Here, we calculate the lunar spin axis orientation and the extent of PSRs based on recent advances for the time evolution of the Earth-Moon distance. The solar declination reached twice its current value 2.1 billion years (Ga) ago, when the PSR area was about half as large. The PSR area becomes negligible beyond 3.4 Ga ago. The site of an artificial impact in Cabeus Crater, where various volatiles have been detected, became continuously shadowed only about 0.9 Ga ago, and hence, cold-trapping has continued into this relatively recent time period. Overall estimates for the amount of cold-trapped ices have to be revised downward.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
| | - Raluca Rufu
- Planetary Science Directorate, Southwest Research Institute, Boulder, CO 80302, USA
| |
Collapse
|
3
|
Schuerger AC, Moores JE, Smith DJ, Reitz G. A Lunar Microbial Survival Model for Predicting the Forward Contamination of the Moon. ASTROBIOLOGY 2019; 19:730-756. [PMID: 30810338 DOI: 10.1089/ast.2018.1952] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/09/2023]
Abstract
The surface conditions on the Moon are extremely harsh with high doses of ultraviolet (UV) irradiation (26.8 W · m-2 UVC/UVB), wide temperature extremes (-171°C to 140°C), low pressure (10-10 Pa), and high levels of ionizing radiation. External spacecraft surfaces on the Moon are generally >100°C during daylight hours and can reach as high as 140°C at local noon. A Lunar Microbial Survival (LMS) model was developed that estimated (1) the total viable bioburden of all spacecraft landed on the Moon as ∼4.57 × 1010 microbial cells/spores at contact, (2) the inactivation kinetics of Bacillus subtilis spores to vacuum as approaching -2 logs per 2107 days, (3) the inactivation of spores on external surfaces due to concomitant low-pressure and high-temperature conditions as -6 logs per 8 h for local noon conditions, and (4) the ionizing radiation by solar wind particles as approaching -3 logs per lunation on external surfaces only. When the biocidal factors of solar UV, vacuum, high-temperature, and ionizing radiation were combined into an integrated LMS model, a -231 log reduction in viable bioburden was predicted for external spacecraft surfaces per lunation at the equator. Results indicate that external surfaces of landed or crashed spacecraft are unlikely to harbor viable spores after only one lunation, that shallow internal surfaces will be sterilized due to the interactive effects of vacuum and thermal cycling from solar irradiation, and that deep internal surfaces would be affected only by vacuum with a degradation rate of -0.02 logs per lunation.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Andrew C Schuerger
- 1 Department of Plant Pathology, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida
| | - John E Moores
- 2 Centre for Research in Earth and Space Science (CRESS), York University, Toronto, ON Canada
| | - David J Smith
- 3 Space Biosciences Division, NASA, Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, California
| | - Günther Reitz
- 4 Department of Radiation Dosimetry, Nuclear Physics Institute of the CAS, Praha, Czech Republic
- 5 Radiation Biology Division, Institute of Aerospace Medicine, German Aerospace Center, Cologne, Germany
| |
Collapse
|
4
|
Chabot NL, Shread EE, Harmon JK. Investigating Mercury's South Polar Deposits: Arecibo Radar Observations and High-resolution Determination of Illumination Conditions. JOURNAL OF GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH. PLANETS 2018; 123:666-681. [PMID: 29552436 PMCID: PMC5853133 DOI: 10.1002/2017je005500] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/08/2023]
Abstract
There is strong evidence that Mercury's polar deposits are water ice hosted in permanently shadowed regions. In this study, we present new Arecibo radar observations of Mercury's south pole, which reveal numerous radar-bright deposits and substantially increase the radar imaging coverage. We also use images from MESSENGER's full mission to determine the illumination conditions of Mercury's south polar region at the same spatial resolution as the north polar region, enabling comparisons between the two poles. The area of radar-bright deposits in Mercury's south is roughly double that found in the north, consistent with the larger permanently shadowed area in the older, cratered terrain at the south relative to the younger smooth plains at the north. Radar-bright features are strongly associated with regions of permanent shadow at both poles, consistent with water ice being the dominant component of the deposits. However, both of Mercury's polar regions show that roughly 50% of permanently shadowed regions lack radar-bright deposits, despite some of these locations having thermal environments that are conducive to the presence of water ice. The observed uneven distribution of water ice among Mercury's polar cold traps may suggest that the source of Mercury's water ice was not a steady, regular process but rather that the source was an episodic event, such as a recent, large impact on the innermost planet.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Nancy L. Chabot
- Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory, 11100 Johns Hopkins Rd, Laurel, MD, 202723, USA
| | - Evangela E. Shread
- Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory, 11100 Johns Hopkins Rd, Laurel, MD, 202723, USA
| | - John K. Harmon
- National Astronomy and Ionosphere Center, Arecibo Observatory, HC3 Box 53995, Arecibo, PR 00612, USA
| |
Collapse
|
5
|
Warren TJ, Bowles NE, Donaldson Hanna K, Thomas IR. The Oxford space environment goniometer: A new experimental setup for making directional emissivity measurements under a simulated space environment. THE REVIEW OF SCIENTIFIC INSTRUMENTS 2017; 88:124502. [PMID: 29289165 DOI: 10.1063/1.4986657] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/07/2023]
Abstract
Measurements of the light scattering behaviour of the regoliths of airless bodies via remote sensing techniques in the Solar System, across wavelengths from the visible to the far infrared, are essential in understanding their surface properties. A key parameter is knowledge of the angular behaviour of scattered light, usually represented mathematically by a phase function. The phase function is believed to be dependent on many factors including the following: surface composition, surface roughness across all length scales, and the wavelength of radiation. Although there have been many phase function measurements of regolith analog materials across visible wavelengths, there have been no equivalent measurements made in the thermal infrared (TIR). This may have been due to a lack of TIR instruments as part of planetary remote sensing payloads. However, since the launch of Diviner to the Moon in 2009, OSIRIS-Rex to the asteroid Bennu in 2016, and the planned launch of BepiColombo to Mercury in 2018, there is now a large quantity of TIR remote sensing data that need to be interpreted. It is therefore important to extend laboratory phase function measurements to the TIR. This paper describes the design, build, calibration, and initial measurements from a new laboratory instrument that is able to make phase function measurements of analog planetary regoliths across wavelengths from the visible to the TIR.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- T J Warren
- Atmospheric, Oceanic and Planetary Physics Department, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom
| | - N E Bowles
- Atmospheric, Oceanic and Planetary Physics Department, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom
| | - K Donaldson Hanna
- Atmospheric, Oceanic and Planetary Physics Department, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom
| | - I R Thomas
- Belgian Institute for Space Aeronomy (BIRA-IASB), Brussels, Belgium
| |
Collapse
|
6
|
Lunar true polar wander inferred from polar hydrogen. Nature 2016; 531:480-4. [DOI: 10.1038/nature17166] [Citation(s) in RCA: 68] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/13/2015] [Accepted: 01/21/2016] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
|
7
|
Garrick-Bethell I, Perera V, Nimmo F, Zuber MT. The tidal-rotational shape of the Moon and evidence for polar wander. Nature 2014; 512:181-4. [PMID: 25079322 DOI: 10.1038/nature13639] [Citation(s) in RCA: 48] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/27/2014] [Accepted: 07/01/2014] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
Abstract
The origin of the Moon's large-scale topography is important for understanding lunar geology, lunar orbital evolution and the Moon's orientation in the sky. Previous hypotheses for its origin have included late accretion events, large impacts, tidal effects and convection processes. However, testing these hypotheses and quantifying the Moon's topography is complicated by the large basins that have formed since the crust crystallized. Here we estimate the large-scale lunar topography and gravity spherical harmonics outside these basins and show that the bulk of the spherical harmonic degree-2 topography is consistent with a crust-building process controlled by early tidal heating throughout the Moon. The remainder of the degree-2 topography is consistent with a frozen tidal-rotational bulge that formed later, at a semi-major axis of about 32 Earth radii. The probability of the degree-2 shape having both tidal-heating and frozen shape characteristics by chance is less than 1%. We also infer that internal density contrasts eventually reoriented the Moon's polar axis by 36 ± 4°, to the configuration we observe today. Together, these results link the geology of the near and far sides, and resolve long-standing questions about the Moon's large-scale shape, gravity and history of polar wander.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Ian Garrick-Bethell
- 1] Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, University of California, Santa Cruz, 1156 High Street, Santa Cruz, California 95064, USA [2] School of Space Research, Kyung Hee University, 1 Seocheon-dong, Giheung-gu, Yongin-si, Gyeonggi-do 446-701, Korea
| | - Viranga Perera
- 1] Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, University of California, Santa Cruz, 1156 High Street, Santa Cruz, California 95064, USA [2] School of Earth and Space Exploration, Arizona State University, PO Box 876004, Tempe, Arizona 85287-6004, USA
| | - Francis Nimmo
- Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, University of California, Santa Cruz, 1156 High Street, Santa Cruz, California 95064, USA
| | - Maria T Zuber
- Department of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, USA
| |
Collapse
|
8
|
Boynton WV, Droege GF, Mitrofanov IG, McClanahan TP, Sanin AB, Litvak ML, Schaffner M, Chin G, Evans LG, Garvin JB, Harshman K, Malakhov A, Milikh G, Sagdeev R, Starr R. High spatial resolution studies of epithermal neutron emission from the lunar poles: Constraints on hydrogen mobility. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2012. [DOI: 10.1029/2011je003979] [Citation(s) in RCA: 27] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/10/2022]
|
9
|
Paige DA, Siegler MA, Harmon JK, Neumann GA, Mazarico EM, Smith DE, Zuber MT, Harju E, Delitsky ML, Solomon SC. Thermal stability of volatiles in the north polar region of Mercury. Science 2012. [PMID: 23196905 DOI: 10.1126/science.1231106] [Citation(s) in RCA: 94] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/02/2022]
Abstract
Thermal models for the north polar region of Mercury, calculated from topographic measurements made by the MErcury Surface, Space ENvironment, GEochemistry, and Ranging (MESSENGER) spacecraft, show that the spatial distribution of regions of high radar backscatter is well matched by the predicted distribution of thermally stable water ice. MESSENGER measurements of near-infrared surface reflectance indicate bright surfaces in the coldest areas where water ice is predicted to be stable at the surface, and dark surfaces within and surrounding warmer areas where water ice is predicted to be stable only in the near subsurface. We propose that the dark surface layer is a sublimation lag deposit that may be rich in impact-derived organic material.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- David A Paige
- Department of Earth and Space Sciences, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA.
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
Collapse
|
10
|
Gladstone GR, Retherford KD, Egan AF, Kaufmann DE, Miles PF, Parker JW, Horvath D, Rojas PM, Versteeg MH, Davis MW, Greathouse TK, Slater DC, Mukherjee J, Steffl AJ, Feldman PD, Hurley DM, Pryor WR, Hendrix AR, Mazarico E, Stern SA. Far-ultraviolet reflectance properties of the Moon's permanently shadowed regions. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2012. [DOI: 10.1029/2011je003913] [Citation(s) in RCA: 90] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
|