Damp Moon Rising
Francis McCubbin and co-workers measured the OH concentrations in
lunar sample 15404,51 (collected from debris on boulder in the image
on the left) and in lunar meteorite NWA 2977 (right).
http://www.psrd.hawaii.edu/July10/dampMoonRising.html
Damp Moon Rising
OH in Apatite:
220-1000 ppm in 15404,51
4000-7000 ppm in NWA 2977
H2O in lunar interior appears to
be ~1 to a few tens of ppm,
much higher than previously
thought, < 1 ppb.
http://www.psrd.hawaii.edu/July10/dampMoonRising.html
Damp Moon Rising
Water in the Moon raises questions
about its origin by a giant impact:
Dynamical calculations indicate that most
of the Moon was formed from material that
resided in the impactor. Did the impactor
contain water? If so, how much?
Was some of it lost as the result of the
large impact? Was a lot or a little lost?
Did some react with silicates in the protolunar disk?
Or was the water added later, to both
Earth and Moon?
Canup (2004)
Why does the Moon contain a few parts
per million to a few tens of parts per
million water while the Earth contains
much more, 500 to 1000 parts per million?
http://www.psrd.hawaii.edu/July10/dampMoonRising.html