Ancient lava flows on the Moon released gases such as CO S and H 2 O Their volcanic origin is shown by the presence of distinct flows on the surfaces of the younger regions of lunar maria and by the textures of all mare basalt samples collected during NASAs Apollo program ID: 711384
Download Presentation The PPT/PDF document "Volcanism and an Ancient Atmosphere on t..." is the property of its rightful owner. Permission is granted to download and print the materials on this web site for personal, non-commercial use only, and to display it on your personal computer provided you do not modify the materials and that you retain all copyright notices contained in the materials. By downloading content from our website, you accept the terms of this agreement.
Slide1
Volcanism and an Ancient Atmosphere on the Moon
Ancient lava flows on the Moon released gases such as CO, S, and H
2
O. Their volcanic origin is shown by the presence of distinct flows on the surfaces of the younger regions of lunar maria, and by the textures of all mare basalt samples collected during NASA’s Apollo program.Gases escape from all volcanoes on Earth, such as Kilauea, Hawai‘i, shown below.Slide2
Volcanism and an Ancient Atmosphere on the Moon
Time sequence of the eruption of mare basalt lavas, adapted from Figure 1 in Needham and
Kring
(2017). Note the sharp peak in eruptions before 3.0 billion years ago, with most of the action occurring about 3.5 billion years ago.Slide3
Volcanism and an Ancient Atmosphere on the Moon
At
the peak of mare basalt volcanic activity at 3.5 billion years ago,
the pressure would be higher than the mean pressure on Mars and almost 1% of the atmospheric pressure on Earth's surface at sea level.