Journal
PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
Volume 114, Issue 36, Pages 9547-9551Publisher
NATL ACAD SCIENCES
DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1708236114
Keywords
Moon; volatile-poor; Rusty Rock; magma ocean; condensates
Categories
Funding
- NASA Emerging Worlds program [NNX15AL74G]
- Institut de Physique du Globe de Paris Visiting Professor position
- European Research Council (ERC) under the H framework program/ERC Grant Agreement [637503]
- UnivEarthS Labex program at Sorbonne Paris Cite [ANR-10-LABX-0023, ANR-11-IDEX-0005-02]
- Agence Nationale de la Recherche through a chaire d'excellence Sorbonne Paris Cite
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The abundance of volatile elements and compounds, such as zinc, potassium, chlorine, and water, provide key evidence for how Earth and the Moon formed and evolved. Currently, evidence exists for a Moon depleted in volatile elements, as well as reservoirs within the Moon with volatile abundances like Earth's depleted upper mantle. Volatile depletion is consistent with catastrophic formation, such as a giant impact, whereas a Moon with Earth-like volatile abundances suggests preservation of these volatiles, or addition through late accretion. We show, using the Rusty Rock impact melt breccia, 66095, that volatile enrichment on the lunar surface occurred through vapor condensation. Isotopically light Zn (delta Zn-66 = -13.7%), heavy CI (delta(CI)-C-37 = +15%), and high U/Pb supports the origin of condensates from a volatile-poor internal source formed during thermomagmatic evolution of the Moon, with long-term depletion in incompatible CI and Pb, and lesser depletion of more-compatible Zn. Leaching experiments on mare basalt 14053 demonstrate that isotopically light Zn condensates also occur on some mare basalts after their crystallization, confirming a volatile-depleted lunar interior source with homogeneous delta Zn-66 approximate to +1.4%. Our results show that much of the lunar interior must be significantly depleted in volatile elements and compounds and that volatile-rich rocks on the lunar surface formed through vapor condensation. Volatiles detected by remote sensing on the surface of the Moon likely have a partially condensate origin from its interior.
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