According to a new survey that focuses on the presence of water in lunar rocks, the water on our planet and on its natural satellite may have the same origin.
If the findings of scientists are confirmed, it will be a strong argument in favor of the moon formation theory of material that belonged to the primordial Earth and was distracted by some gigantic conflict in the early years of the Solar System.
The extensive access of scientists to lunar rocks is due to the space missions on the Moon (manned and not), from which hundreds of valuable pounds of soil and rock samples were collected.
To date, most research has focused on the water content of relatively newer lunar rocks from the Moon's mantle. Instead, the new research focused on samples from elevated areas on the lunar surface that had been collected by Apollo 17 astronauts. processes within it.
These volcanic rocks contain amounts of apatite, a hydrogen-rich mineral that indicates the existence of water in the past of the Moon, and they also detected the presence of water in their crystalline structure. Using sophisticated techniques, they measured the isotopic composition of hydrogen and water in the samples, in other words a species signature signature of the specific molecules, allowing them to compare them with other molecules in different celestial bodies.
According to the researchers, the signatures which they discovered in the lunar rocks are identical to others discovered in meteorites on Earth, which may mean that the Moon's water can be transported with meteorites. But as the same molecular signatures are also found in the mantle of our planet, the water inside and the moon's water may have a common origin.
To draw safer conclusions about the past of the two bodies and their formation, a more accurate timeline of the time the meteorites bombarded them with water would be needed.
The research is published in the journal Earth and Planetary Science Letters.
