Scientists revealed Monday that they discovered a new “reservoir” of water located on the moon’s surface. The Chinese lunar probe Chang’e 5 found and collected soil samples containing impact glass beads with “substantial amounts” of water, according to a report published in Nature Geoscience.
The glass beads are created when an asteroid hits the moon’s surface and creates molten droplets, which then freeze and attach to soil and dust on the moon’s surface, according to the researchers.
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They estimate that the impact beads – scattered across the moon’s surface – could contain up to 270 billion tonnes of water.
“Impact glass beads preserve hydration signatures and exhibit water abundance profiles consistent with internal diffusion of water derived from the solar wind,” says the study.
While the specific origins of the lunar surface water remain “largely unknown,” the report theorizes about several potential sources that may have “contributed” to the water source, including: “(1) solar wind deployment, (2) release of volatiles during lunar volcanism, (3) deposition of volatile pyroclastic deposits and minerals, and (4) delivery by cometary and asteroid impacts.”
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