Flesh of the flesh: the moon was probably formed from the primary mantle of the ancient Earth

The origin of the moon has long remained a mystery. Different scientists put forward the most unusual hypotheses . Over time, of all the diversity of the options offered, there are only a few. The main option is the hypothesis that the Moon was formed as a result of the collision of the ancient Earth with a giant object, equal in size to Mars.

In this case, there are two main scenarios of the "shock" formation of the moon. In the first case, it is assumed that the satellite of our planet is formed from fragments of the ancient Earth and the object colliding with it. Proponents of the second option argue that the proto-earth mantle simply evaporated as a result of the collision. Particles of the mantle fell into the space surrounding our planet. The satellite began to form from this material in the process of condensation of the evaporated substance.

In order to obtain evidence for this or that scenario, scientists needed to compare the amount of potassium isotopes in the crust of the moon and the earth. Such an analysis should have been very accurate. Only last year, scientists from the University of Washington and Harvard were able to develop a reliable method to compare potassium isotopes. The accuracy of this method in 10 exceeded the capabilities of any of the existing methods of analysis.
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Using their methodology, scientists have obtained evidence of the validity of the second version of the formation of the moon. According to experts, the collision of the Earth with another object was extremely powerful. In fact, the mantle of the ancient Earth simply evaporated during the impact.

Theory of impact formation of the moon

The “shock” theory of the formation of the moon was proposed by two groups of astrophysicists in the 70s of the last century. Scientists have suggested that the moon was formed during the collision of the Earth with an object, the size of which was approximately equal to the size of Mars. After that, the object collapsed. Large fragments have also broken off the Earth. From this material after millions of years and formed our natural satellite. The hypothesis was favorably accepted, and since then it was considered the main one.

In 2001, another group of scientists, after conducting an isotopic analysis of samples of terrestrial and lunar rocks, found that the samples contained an equal number of three stable oxygen isotopes.



But it was strange, because if the Moon was formed mainly from fragments of an alien object crashing into the Earth, then there should be different amounts of oxygen isotopes in terrestrial and lunar rocks. The probability that the amount of oxygen isotopes in the Earth and the ancient “guest” may be equal is vanishingly small. This is much less likely than the same fingerprints in two different people.

The problem even got its own name - “isotope crisis”. After some time, the experts decided to re-analyze using a more accurate method for determining the number of oxygen isotopes in the rocks of the Earth and the Moon. The result was the same. “These are the most accurate measurements we can take, and they showed identity [the number of isotopes in the rocks of the Earth and the Moon - approx. Ed.], - said the scientists who conducted the analysis.

The “isotope crisis” has become an even more complex problem than before. The variant of the error during the analysis was excluded - the measurements were checked more than once.

After that, the scientists came to the conclusion that it was necessary to change some elements of the hypothesis of the impact origin of the Moon, so that the updated hypothesis would explain all the actual factual material. There are several new hypotheses. One of them involved the complete evaporation of the “guest” and almost all of the magma of the ancient Earth. Evaporation products fell into the surrounding space, and became part of the emerging satellite of the Earth. The evaporated mantle and “guest” material mixed upon impact, forming a supercritical fluid , also called a supercritical fluid. It is a state of matter in which the difference between the liquid and the gas phase disappears. Any substance that is at a temperature and pressure above the critical point is a supercritical fluid.

A cloud of hot silicates first 500 times the size of the modern moon, after which condensation began. Only the born Moon was a melted ball, which gradually cooled.

A video that explains the appearance of the moon in terms of colliding with a large object. This is a visualization of the hypothesis of shock formation of our satellite with low collision energy without evaporation of the mantle:

Potassium - the main argument

A group of American geochemists decided to verify the hypothesis by comparing the content of potassium isotopes in lunar and terrestrial rock samples. As it turned out, the lunar rocks contain more heavy potassium isotope (potassium-41) than in the earth. According to experts, such a situation is possible if the moon was formed at a pressure that is ten times higher than the atmospheric pressure on Earth (the modern Earth). And this, according to the Americans, is indirect evidence of the correctness of supporters of the second version of the formation of our satellite. There is another indirect confirmation, isotopes were also tested here, but not of potassium, but of zinc .

As you can see, the stones can also speak. It is only necessary to be able to establish a “dialogue” with them and correctly evaluate the answers.

Other hypotheses:

In addition to the hypothesis of "big blow", there are others:

• The hypothesis of centrifugal separation: the authors of this hypothesis claim that the proto-earth rotated very quickly, so quickly that under the influence of centrifugal forces, the part that formed the moon separated from it;
• Capture hypothesis: here it is assumed that the Earth and the Moon were formed in different regions of the solar system. But the Moon, passing by the Earth, was captured by the last gravitational field;
• Hypothesis of a joint formation: the Moon and the Earth were formed simultaneously, next to each other;
• Hypothesis of evaporation: this hypothesis was mentioned above, it seems that now it has become the main one;
• Hypothesis of many moons: on the Earth’s orbit there were several small objects, from which the modern Moon was formed.