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Sunday, May 19, 2013

Is it true that the water on Earth and Moon came from the same source?

Water in the Earth and the Moon apparently derived from the same source. The conclusion was obtained by a team of researchers from Brown University. "The water that comes to the moon and earth from primitive meteorites are now located in outer of the asteroid belt," said Alberto Saal, a geochemist who led the study.

This finding indicates that the water may have existed on Earth before the giant collision befall the planet and created the Moon. Giant Mars-sized protoplanet collision on Earth happened about 4.5 billion years ago. The heat generated has been baking all materials contained water on the Moon. Many experts call this planet has parched surface.


Backscatter electron image of a lunar 
melt inclusion from Apollo 17 sample 
74220, enclosed within an olivine crystal. 
The inclusion is 30 μm in diameter. Skeletal 
crystals within the melt inclusion are a fine 
mixture of olivine and ilmenite. Dark area 
in the lower-left is an ion microprobe sputter 
crater. (Picture from: http://www.space.com/)
However, five years ago the first evidence of the presence of hydrogen found in lunar samples from the Apollo missions. Hydrogen is the main ingredient of water, along with oxygen. To find the origin of this water scientists analyzed the crystal and glass from moon rocks brought by the Apollo 15 and 17. Glass in the crystal is recorded the Moon geology history.

Researchers found the deuterium ratio of hydrogen in Moon rocks similar to those seen on Earth as well. Overall these findings suggest that the water on the Moon and Earth have the same carbon chondrites in the meteorites that found in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter, which is considered one of the oldest objects in the solar system.

According to Saal, there are follow-up questions. If the water in the Earth and the Moon is there before the giant collision, why the heat were not make all the water dries. One possibility is that the evaporation of trapped gas in it, such as soda. This factor plus the Earth gravity, help the planet stay rich hydrogen and water.

The problem is, the Moon has a much lower mass, as well as gravity. Other scientists found water on the Earth may have come from comets. The researchers team from the Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research, Paul Hartogh and his colleagues have found that the deuterium ratio of hydrogen seen in comets is suitable to those found in the water contained in the Earth. If comets bring water to Earth, they may also be able to do so at a later date. *** [EKA | FROM VARIOUS SOURCES | SPACE | KORAN TEMPO 4228]
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