Formation of volatile-rich lunar surface

Using abundances and isotopic compositions of zinc, chlorine, and lead in a lunar rock known as the "Rusty Rock," researchers report that volatile elements and compounds found in lunar surface rocks formed through condensation of evaporated gases during cooling and crystallization of the early moon, suggesting that the lunar interior was correspondingly depleted of volatile elements and compounds, including water.

###

Article #17-08236: "Late-stage magmatic outgassing from a volatile-depleted Moonby James M.D. Day, Frédéric Moynier, and Charles K. Shearer.

MEDIA CONTACT: James M.D. Day, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA; tel: 858-534-5431; e-mail: <jmdday@ucsd.edu>