Giant Impact and Fission Hypotheses for the Origin of the Moon: A Critical Review of Some Geochemical Evidence

1998 ◽  
Vol 40 (10) ◽  
pp. 851-864 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alex Ruzicka ◽  
Gregory A. Snyder ◽  
Lawrence A. Taylor
Keyword(s):  
Critical Review ◽  
The Moon ◽  
Geochemical Evidence ◽  
Giant Impact ◽  
Origin Of The Moon

scholarly journals Isotopic evidence for the formation of the Moon in a canonical giant impact

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sune G. Nielsen ◽  
David V. Bekaert ◽  
Maureen Auro
Keyword(s):  
Solar System ◽  
Isotope Fractionation ◽  
Main Stage ◽  
The Moon ◽  
Giant Impact ◽  
Bulk Silicate Earth ◽  
The Earth ◽  
The Standard Model ◽  
Isotopic Measurements ◽  
Origin Of The Moon

AbstractIsotopic measurements of lunar and terrestrial rocks have revealed that, unlike any other body in the solar system, the Moon is indistinguishable from the Earth for nearly every isotopic system. This observation, however, contradicts predictions by the standard model for the origin of the Moon, the canonical giant impact. Here we show that the vanadium isotopic composition of the Moon is offset from that of the bulk silicate Earth by 0.18 ± 0.04 parts per thousand towards the chondritic value. This offset most likely results from isotope fractionation on proto-Earth during the main stage of terrestrial core formation (pre-giant impact), followed by a canonical giant impact where ~80% of the Moon originates from the impactor of chondritic composition. Our data refute the possibility of post-giant impact equilibration between the Earth and Moon, and implies that the impactor and proto-Earth mainly accreted from a common isotopic reservoir in the inner solar system.

scholarly journals Siderophile element constraints on the origin of the Moon

2014 ◽  
Vol 372 (2024) ◽  
pp. 20130258 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard J. Walker
Keyword(s):  
The Moon ◽  
Element Abundances ◽  
Giant Impact ◽  
The Earth ◽  
Precision Determination ◽  
Mantle Sources ◽  
Volcanic Glasses ◽  
High Precision Determination ◽  
Origin Of The Moon

Discovery of small enrichments in 182 W/ 184 W in some Archaean rocks, relative to modern mantle, suggests both exogeneous and endogenous modifications to highly siderophile element (HSE) and moderately siderophile element abundances in the terrestrial mantle. Collectively, these isotopic enrichments suggest the formation of chemically fractionated reservoirs in the terrestrial mantle that survived the putative Moon-forming giant impact, and also provide support for the late accretion hypothesis. The lunar mantle sources of volcanic glasses and basalts were depleted in HSEs relative to the terrestrial mantle by at least a factor of 20. The most likely explanations for the disparity between the Earth and Moon are either that the Moon received a disproportionately lower share of late accreted materials than the Earth, such as may have resulted from stochastic late accretion, or the major phase of late accretion occurred prior to the Moon-forming event, and the putative giant impact led to little drawdown of HSEs to the Earth's core. High precision determination of the 182 W isotopic composition of the Moon can help to resolve this issue.

Potassium isotopic evidence for a high-energy giant impact origin of the Moon

Nature ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 538 (7626) ◽  
pp. 487-490 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kun Wang ◽  
Stein B. Jacobsen
Keyword(s):  
High Energy ◽  
The Moon ◽  
Giant Impact ◽  
Isotopic Evidence ◽  
Impact Origin ◽  
Origin Of The Moon

Geochemical evidence for the origin of the moon

1972 ◽  
Vol 59 (2) ◽  
pp. 45-52 ◽  
Author(s):  
John A. O'Keefe
Keyword(s):  
The Moon ◽  
Geochemical Evidence ◽  
Origin Of The Moon

Origin of the Moon in a giant impact near the end of the Earth's formation

Nature ◽  
2001 ◽  
Vol 412 (6848) ◽  
pp. 708-712 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robin M. Canup ◽  
Erik Asphaug
Keyword(s):  
The Moon ◽  
Giant Impact ◽  
Origin Of The Moon

scholarly journals Geochemical arguments for an Earth-like Moon-forming impactor

2014 ◽  
Vol 372 (2024) ◽  
pp. 20130244 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicolas Dauphas ◽  
Christoph Burkhardt ◽  
Paul H. Warren ◽  
Teng Fang-Zhen
Keyword(s):  
Isotopic Composition ◽  
Solar Nebula ◽  
Building Blocks ◽  
Inversion Method ◽  
Stage Model ◽  
The Moon ◽  
Two Stage ◽  
Geochemical Evidence ◽  
Giant Impact ◽  
The Earth

Geochemical evidence suggests that the material accreted by the Earth did not change in nature during Earth's accretion, presumably because the inner protoplanetary disc had uniform isotopic composition similar to enstatite chondrites, aubrites and ungrouped achondrite NWA 5363/5400. Enstatite meteorites and the Earth were derived from the same nebular reservoir but diverged in their chemical evolutions, so no chondrite sample in meteorite collections is representative of the Earth's building blocks. The similarity in isotopic composition (Δ 17 O, ε 50 Ti and ε 54 Cr) between lunar and terrestrial rocks is explained by the fact that the Moon-forming impactor came from the same region of the disc as other Earth-forming embryos, and therefore was similar in isotopic composition to the Earth. The heavy δ 30 Si values of the silicate Earth and the Moon relative to known chondrites may be due to fractionation in the solar nebula/protoplanetary disc rather than partitioning of silicon in Earth's core. An inversion method is presented to calculate the Hf/W ratios and ε 182 W values of the proto-Earth and impactor mantles for a given Moon-forming impact scenario. The similarity in tungsten isotopic composition between lunar and terrestrial rocks is a coincidence that can be explained in a canonical giant impact scenario if an early formed embryo (two-stage model age of 10–20 Myr) collided with the proto-Earth formed over a more protracted accretion history (two-stage model age of 30–40 Myr).

The Origin of the Moon

1962 ◽  
Vol 14 ◽  
pp. 149-155 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. L. Ruskol
Keyword(s):  
Chemical Composition ◽  
Solar System ◽  
The Moon ◽  
The Earth ◽  
The Difference ◽  
Origin Of The Moon

The difference between average densities of the Moon and Earth was interpreted in the preceding report by Professor H. Urey as indicating a difference in their chemical composition. Therefore, Urey assumes the Moon's formation to have taken place far away from the Earth, under conditions differing substantially from the conditions of Earth's formation. In such a case, the Earth should have captured the Moon. As is admitted by Professor Urey himself, such a capture is a very improbable event. In addition, an assumption that the “lunar” dimensions were representative of protoplanetary bodies in the entire solar system encounters great difficulties.

The Origin of the Moon and its Relationship to the Origin of the Solar System

1962 ◽  
Vol 14 ◽  
pp. 133-148 ◽  
Author(s):  
Harold C. Urey
Keyword(s):  
Solar System ◽  
The Moon ◽  
The Past ◽  
The Earth ◽  
Short Period ◽  
Origin Of The Moon

During the last 10 years, the writer has presented evidence indicating that the Moon was captured by the Earth and that the large collisions with its surface occurred within a surprisingly short period of time. These observations have been a continuous preoccupation during the past years and some explanation that seemed physically possible and reasonably probable has been sought.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document