Academic Aspects of Lunar Water Resources and Their Relevance to Lunar Protolife
Water ice has been discovered on the moon by radar backscatter at the North Pole and by spectrometry at the South Pole in the Cabeus crater with an extrapolated volume for both poles of conservatively 109 metric tons. Various exogenic and endogenic sources of this water have been proposed. This pape...
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ftmdpi:oai:mdpi.com:/1422-0067/12/9/6051/ 2023-08-20T04:08:38+02:00 Academic Aspects of Lunar Water Resources and Their Relevance to Lunar Protolife Jack Green agris 2011-09-19 application/pdf https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms12096051 EN eng Molecular Diversity Preservation International Physical Chemistry, Theoretical and Computational Chemistry https://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijms12096051 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ International Journal of Molecular Sciences; Volume 12; Issue 9; Pages: 6051-6076 fumaroles lunar water protolife lunar volcanism Text 2011 ftmdpi https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms12096051 2023-07-31T20:27:16Z Water ice has been discovered on the moon by radar backscatter at the North Pole and by spectrometry at the South Pole in the Cabeus crater with an extrapolated volume for both poles of conservatively 109 metric tons. Various exogenic and endogenic sources of this water have been proposed. This paper focuses on endogenic water sources by fumaroles and hot springs in shadowed polar craters. A survey of theoretical and morphological details supports a volcanic model. Release of water and other constituents by defluidization over geological time was intensified in the Hadean Eon (c.a. 4600 to 4000 My). Intensification factors include higher heat flow by now-extinct radionuclides, tidal flexing and higher core temperatures. Lesser gravity would promote deeper bubble nucleation in lunar magmas, slower rise rates of gases and enhanced subsidence of lunar caldera floors. Hadean volcanism would likely have been more intense and regional in nature as opposed to suture-controlled location of calderas in Phanerozoic Benioff-style subduction environments. Seventy-seven morphological, remote sensing and return sample features were categorized into five categories ranging from a volcano-tectonic origin only to impact origin only. Scores for the most logical scenario were 69 to eight in favor of lunar volcanism. Ingredients in the Cabeus plume analysis showed many volcanic fluids and their derivatives plus a large amount of mercury. Mercury-rich fumaroles are well documented on Earth and are virtually absent in cometary gases and solids. There are no mercury anomalies in terrestrial impact craters. Volcanic fluids and their derivatives in lunar shadow can theoretically evolve into protolife. Energy for this evolution can be provided by vent flow charging intensified in the lunar Hadean and by charge separation on freezing fumarolic fluids in shadow. Fischer-Tropsch reactions on hydrothermal clays can yield lipids, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and amino acids. Soluble polyphosphates are available in volcanic fluids as well ... Text North Pole South pole MDPI Open Access Publishing North Pole South Pole International Journal of Molecular Sciences 12 9 6051 6076 |
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English |
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fumaroles lunar water protolife lunar volcanism |
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fumaroles lunar water protolife lunar volcanism Jack Green Academic Aspects of Lunar Water Resources and Their Relevance to Lunar Protolife |
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fumaroles lunar water protolife lunar volcanism |
description |
Water ice has been discovered on the moon by radar backscatter at the North Pole and by spectrometry at the South Pole in the Cabeus crater with an extrapolated volume for both poles of conservatively 109 metric tons. Various exogenic and endogenic sources of this water have been proposed. This paper focuses on endogenic water sources by fumaroles and hot springs in shadowed polar craters. A survey of theoretical and morphological details supports a volcanic model. Release of water and other constituents by defluidization over geological time was intensified in the Hadean Eon (c.a. 4600 to 4000 My). Intensification factors include higher heat flow by now-extinct radionuclides, tidal flexing and higher core temperatures. Lesser gravity would promote deeper bubble nucleation in lunar magmas, slower rise rates of gases and enhanced subsidence of lunar caldera floors. Hadean volcanism would likely have been more intense and regional in nature as opposed to suture-controlled location of calderas in Phanerozoic Benioff-style subduction environments. Seventy-seven morphological, remote sensing and return sample features were categorized into five categories ranging from a volcano-tectonic origin only to impact origin only. Scores for the most logical scenario were 69 to eight in favor of lunar volcanism. Ingredients in the Cabeus plume analysis showed many volcanic fluids and their derivatives plus a large amount of mercury. Mercury-rich fumaroles are well documented on Earth and are virtually absent in cometary gases and solids. There are no mercury anomalies in terrestrial impact craters. Volcanic fluids and their derivatives in lunar shadow can theoretically evolve into protolife. Energy for this evolution can be provided by vent flow charging intensified in the lunar Hadean and by charge separation on freezing fumarolic fluids in shadow. Fischer-Tropsch reactions on hydrothermal clays can yield lipids, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and amino acids. Soluble polyphosphates are available in volcanic fluids as well ... |
format |
Text |
author |
Jack Green |
author_facet |
Jack Green |
author_sort |
Jack Green |
title |
Academic Aspects of Lunar Water Resources and Their Relevance to Lunar Protolife |
title_short |
Academic Aspects of Lunar Water Resources and Their Relevance to Lunar Protolife |
title_full |
Academic Aspects of Lunar Water Resources and Their Relevance to Lunar Protolife |
title_fullStr |
Academic Aspects of Lunar Water Resources and Their Relevance to Lunar Protolife |
title_full_unstemmed |
Academic Aspects of Lunar Water Resources and Their Relevance to Lunar Protolife |
title_sort |
academic aspects of lunar water resources and their relevance to lunar protolife |
publisher |
Molecular Diversity Preservation International |
publishDate |
2011 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms12096051 |
op_coverage |
agris |
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North Pole South Pole |
geographic_facet |
North Pole South Pole |
genre |
North Pole South pole |
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North Pole South pole |
op_source |
International Journal of Molecular Sciences; Volume 12; Issue 9; Pages: 6051-6076 |
op_relation |
Physical Chemistry, Theoretical and Computational Chemistry https://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijms12096051 |
op_rights |
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms12096051 |
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International Journal of Molecular Sciences |
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12 |
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9 |
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6051 |
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6076 |
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