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Evidence for an early wet Moon from experimental crystallization of the lunar magma ocean

Nature Geoscience volume 10, pages 14–18 (2017)Cite this article

Abstract

The Moon is thought to have been covered initially by a deep magma ocean, its gradual solidification leading to the formation of the plagioclase-rich highland crust. We performed a high-pressure, high-temperature experimental study of lunar mineralogical and geochemical evolution during magma ocean solidification that yields constraints on the presence of water in the earliest lunar interior. In the experiments, a deep layer containing both olivine and pyroxene is formed in the first ∼50% of crystallization, β-quartz forms towards the end of crystallization, and the last per cent of magma remaining is extremely iron rich. In dry experiments, plagioclase appears after 68 vol.% solidification and yields a floatation crust with a thickness of ∼68 km, far above the observed average of 34–43 km based on lunar gravity. The volume of plagioclase formed during crystallization is significantly less in water-bearing experiments. Using the relationship between magma water content and the resulting crustal thickness in the experiments, and considering uncertainties in initial lunar magma ocean depth, we estimate that the Moon may have contained at least 270 to 1,650 ppm water at the time of magma ocean crystallization, suggesting the Earth–Moon system was water-rich from the start.

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Figure 1: Comparison of LMO crystallization sequences from this study and the literature.
Figure 2: Average thickness of the lunar crust as a function of initial LMO water content.

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Acknowledgements

We thank S. Matveev and T. Bouten for technical assistance on electron microprobe analyses and B. Lacet for sample preparation. P. Warren is thanked for constructive criticisms. This work was supported by a Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (N.W.O.) Vici award to W.v.W. and a China Scholarship Council fellowship to Y.L.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Earth and Life Sciences, VU Amsterdam, De Boelelaan 1085, 1081 HV Amsterdam, The Netherlands

    Yanhao Lin, Elodie J. Tronche, Edgar S. Steenstra & Wim van Westrenen

Authors
  1. Yanhao Lin
  2. Elodie J. Tronche
  3. Edgar S. Steenstra
  4. Wim van Westrenen

Contributions

W.v.W., E.J.T. and Y.L. designed the project. Y.L. and E.J.T. performed the experiments. Y.L., E.J.T. and E.S.S. performed sample analyses. All authors discussed the results. Y.L. and W.v.W. wrote the paper with input from all authors.

Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Yanhao Lin or Wim van Westrenen.

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Competing interests

The authors declare no competing financial interests.

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Lin, Y., Tronche, E., Steenstra, E. et al. Evidence for an early wet Moon from experimental crystallization of the lunar magma ocean. Nature Geosci 10, 14–18 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1038/ngeo2845

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