Moon's volcanic history trapped in tiny glass beads: A valuable clue for NASA

Time of India

19 hours ago

Source: earth.com
Astronauts have discovered
tiny glass beads
, called 'Moon beads,' in lunar soil brought back by the
Apollo 17 mission
. These beads are valuable to scientists to learn more about the Moon's past. The size of these beads is less than a millimeter, and they were formed 3.3 billion years ago, during volcanic eruptions of the moon.
As the molten lava blasted into space, it cooled and solidified instantly, forming tiny glass beads that contain valuable information about the Moon's volcanic history. The orange ones, rich in titanium, provide clues about the Moon's magma and volcanic activity. Scientists are now focusing on the outside of these beads, where tiny minerals reveal clues about ancient volcanic activity.
Know about the moon beads discovered
The moon beads contain trapped gases that haven't escaped. Studies have found that these beads contain water, challenging the previous notion that the Moon is dry. The moon beads are composed of sphalerite, starting with high iron content at the base and becoming purer zinc towards the top, indicating that volcanic eruption clouds cooled and thinned as the beads travelled. The sparkle on the glass beads comes from tiny mounds of zinc sulfide, just billionths of an inch high.
Similar beads have been found from other areas, which have coatings of sodium chloride, gallium, or fluorine, supporting the idea that the eruption clouds contained volatile metals. Despite being only a few hundred atoms thick, these films provide detailed information about pressure, temperature, and gas composition, and also explain why the beads sparkle against the lunar landscape.
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New instruments reveal insights about moon beads
According to the journal published in
Icarus (ScienceDirect.com)
, Ogliore's lab utilized a NanoSIMS instrument that strikes samples with ions and counts fragments one atom at a time. Microscopes and an atom probe tomography system at partner institutions helped scientists in providing a better picture. Today's advanced equipment can precisely analyse these thin coatings, mapping every element with high detail, unlike earlier Apollo studies that could only note the bead's colour and couldn't inspect coatings thinner than a red blood cell.
What moon beads reveal about the lunar history
Understanding how volatiles behaved in ancient lunar eruptions can help scientists better model the distribution of resources such as sulfur and zinc on the moon. The tiny mineral coatings provide valuable information about gas flow and volcanic activity, which can be used to calibrate the seismic and orbital data.
This is particularly important for NASA's Artemis mission, which aims to land near pyroclastic plains similar to where the beads were found. The beads reveal that the Moon's volcanic past was more dynamic than previously thought, with eruptions ejecting material into space and preserving complex gas chemistry. By analysing the minerals on the bead surfaces, scientists can now study the rapid changes in gas pressure and composition that occurred during these eruptions, providing new insights into volcanic activity in a vacuum
Study of the moon beads
The study of these
lunar glass beads
sheds light on the Moon's volcanic past and provides insights into similar processes that might occur on the airless worlds, like Mercury or asteroids. By understanding these processes, scientists can better interpret samples from future missions to other celestial bodies.
This broader perspective helps researchers compare the geological histories of different planets and refine their understanding of how planetary bodies interact with volatiles. Further research aims to analyse beads from different core samples to track changes in eruption styles and search for signs of extremely low-pressure eruptions. The Moon still holds many secrets, but continued advancements in technology and collaboration between scientists will help uncover its hidden history.
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