Numerous astronomical theories suggest that our moon had volcanoes before life even existed on Earth. According to a new study, these volcanoes were responsible for scattered water vapor across the lunar surface, and some of these materials still exist as frost and ice on the moon's crater. Moreover, experts suggest that these prehistoric waters are clean for drinking.
Moon's Volcanoes and Frozen Waters
A new study suggests that pre-Earth waters still exist on the moon's craters up until now. The authors suggest that these liquids likely formed from explosions of the lunar volcanoes back when there was still no life on our planet.
The research included a complex simulation to discover what might have happened to the waters of the moon billions of years ago.
According to the models that the authors developed, volcanic eruptions periodically occur on the moon every 22,000 years. These explosions from lava cover almost every part of the lunar surface.
University of Colorado Boulder's Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics and Department of Astrophysical and Planetary Sciences specialist Paul Hayne, who also co-authored the study, explained in a Forbes report that these lunar eruptions are smaller compared to the volcanic activities on Earth despite the effects that changed the moon's surface.
Some of the remnants of the moon's volcanic eruptions could be observed today from the satellite's dark patches, also known as maria.
According to previous studies, these patches were depressions brought by asteroid impacts. But the latest findings contrast what the community already established. The authors believe these surface disruptions were part of a large frosting event covering the moon's polar regions.
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Lunar Surface Possibly Hides Frosted Volcanic Waters
These polar ice sheets might have a thickness of at least dozens to even hundreds. CU Boulder expert and lead author of the paper Andrew Wilcoski said that these sheets were possibly frosts that were built over time following the events of the periodic volcanic explosions.
The moon has always been suspected of water content. The new study's authors say that the theories about the existence of the liquid on the moon are more likely to be true due to the information they uncovered from the orb's surface.
Hayne said that there may still be massive ice sheets hidden today at about five to ten meters under the terrains of the moon.
Most of the guesses about the presence of frozen lunar water roots from a separate study titled "Lunar volcanism produced a transient atmosphere around the ancient Moon." Based on the analysis from this paper, the lunar volcanoes might have produced clouds containing water vapor and carbon monoxide across the skies of the moon that formed the satellite's short-term atmosphere.
About 41 percent of these waters might have condensed into the moon and become ice. Estimates show that the moon can carry about 18 quadrillion pounds of ice from these volcanic waters.
The study was published in The Planetary Science Journal, titled "Polar Ice Accumulation from Volcanically Induced Transient Atmospheres on the Moon."
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