Earth Sciences: Lunar Water Preserved in Antique Glass Beads | Nature Geoscience | Nature Portfolio

Reports say that glass beads formed by cooling molten material from impacts and found scattered across the moon could contain large amounts of water.Natural Earth SciencesThe discovery, based on analysis of samples from China’s Chang’e 5 mission, indicates that lunar soil contains more water from the solar wind than previously thought.

The moon was previously thought to be dry, but analysis of samples collected by the Apollo missions revealed the presence of water within minerals from within the moon, and the orbiter can shed light on the lunar surface. been detected. Interactions between the solar wind and lunar surface material are thought to produce water and maintain the lunar water cycle. However, water reservoirs on the lunar surface have not yet been identified.

Sen Hu, Hejiu Hui and colleagues analyzed the water content in impact glass beads extracted from Chang’e 5 soil samples. They determined water preserved within the impact glass, consistent with the source of the solar wind. Moreover, the distribution of water within individual granules indicates that water can rapidly accumulate and be rapidly released on a time scale of only a few years by diffusion within the glass granules. The authors suggest that this represents an efficient refilling mechanism driving an active water cycle on the lunar surface.

The authors suggest that water trapped inside glass beads may provide a relatively easy-to-extract water resource for future lunar exploration. They concluded that the glass effect could act as reservoirs for water in other atmospheric bodies as well.

doi: 10.1038/s41561-023-01159-6

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