XeMoon · Sources and sinks for excess Xe and Ar on the Moon
Horizon 2020 — Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions
- Duration
- 2018-05-01 → 2020-04-30
- EU contribution
- €183,455
- Participants
- 1
- Scheme
- MSCA-IF-EF-ST
Lines connect the coordinator with its partners.
Results in brief
Sources and sinks for excess Xe and Ar on the Moon
The lunar exosphere balances sources - volcanic outgassing and, impacts (delivery degassing) - and sinks – loss to space, trapping into the regolith. This project aims to track exospheric Xe and Ar through sources and sinks to understand the Moon’s history, and develop a model to account for the data. This is important to society because the Moon preserves a record of the Solar System's early history that the Earth has lost; this is the time when life was beginning on Earth and the surfaces of Mercury and Mars were being shaped. A number of factors led to a delay in the acquisition of xenon isotopic data. It has been agreed that these analyses will be completed once facilities reopen following COVID19 pandemic closure. Accurate chronology of events on the lunar surface to be used in exospheric models is already making us revise our understanding of the early history of the Earth and the inner Solar System, with far-reaching implications. Details are subject to embargo, but the lunar record gives insight into the bombardment history of the early Earth and, thus, the timing of the emergence of life on our planet and the environment it experienced. Since the Moon is used as the benchmark for relating crater densities to absolute ages across the inner Solar System, this leads to a re-evaluation of the first billion years of Mercury, Mars, asteroid belt, etc. This work also provides new insights into volcanic processes shaping the Moon’s crust and the evolution of its mantle, extending the time period over which volcanism is known to have shaped the Maria Imbrium and Serenitatis.
Data: CORDIS, © European Union
Project objective
Noble gases trace the evolution of reservoirs inside terrestrial planetary bodies because their isotopic signatures are diagnostic of volatile sources. In addition, original compositions can be modified by radioactive decay of rock forming elements, providing constraints on the chemistry of an interior reservoir and the time at which it was isolated (since when noble gases were retained). Some lunar samples are known to preserve signatures in xenon and argon that were degassed from one or more interior sources to the exosphere, then incorporated into the regolith, potentially allowing this record to be read. In this work I will combine (i) my expertise in lunar evolution, sample characterization and the 40Ar-39Ar system, (ii) the University of Manchester’s expertise in xenon isotope systematics, world-leading instrumentation for xenon isotopic analysis and state-of-the-art sample characterisation facilities, and (iii) expertise relevant to the lunar exosphere from a network of collaborators. With this team, I will (i) determine the range of xenon and argon signatures in lunar regolith samples and the times at which they were incorporated, (ii) develop a model of the lunar exosphere to infer source reservoir compositions from those measured in samples and so (iii) investigate the number of contributing lunar reservoirs, their compositions and their histories. The results of this interdisciplinary study will be disseminated to the range of specialist and non-specialist audiences. They will serve to test models of lunar evolution, allow comparison with the Earth and Mars to gain wider understanding of terrestrial planetary bodies, and stimulate engagement with planetary science. Additionally, I will develop my leadership and teaching skills by completing the University of Manchester’s New Academics Programme, equipping me to move to the next stage of my career as a researcher, leader and teacher for the next generation of multidisciplinary planetary scientists.
Original text from CORDIS.
Participants
- THE UNIVERSITY OF MANCHESTER · ManchesterCoordinatorUnited Kingdom
Links
Data: CORDIS, © European Union