Rights statement: Accepted for publication in Geophysical Research Letters. Copyright 2020 American Geophysical Union. Further reproduction or electronic distribution is not permitted.
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Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Letter › peer-review
Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Letter › peer-review
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TY - JOUR
T1 - Volcanically Induced Transient Atmospheres on the Moon
T2 - Assessment of Duration, Significance, and Contributions to Polar Volatile Traps
AU - Head, J.W.
AU - Wilson, L.
AU - Deutsch, A.N.
AU - Rutherford, M.J.
AU - Saal, A.E.
N1 - Accepted for publication in Geophysical Research Letters. Copyright 2020 American Geophysical Union. Further reproduction or electronic distribution is not permitted.
PY - 2020/9/28
Y1 - 2020/9/28
N2 - A transient lunar atmosphere formed during a peak period of volcanic outgassing and lasting up to about ~70 Ma was recently proposed. We utilize forward-modeling of individual lunar basaltic eruptions and the observed geologic record to predict eruption frequency, magma volumes, and rates of volcanic volatile release. Typical lunar mare basalt eruptions have volumes of ~102–103 km3, last less than a year, and have a rapidly decreasing volatile release rate. The total volume of lunar mare basalts erupted is small, and the repose period between individual eruptions is predicted to range from 20,000 to 60,000 years. Only under very exceptional circumstances could sufficient volatiles be released in a single eruption to create a transient atmosphere with a pressure as large as ~0.5 Pa. The frequency of eruptions was likely too low to sustain any such atmosphere for more than a few thousand years. Transient, volcanically induced atmospheres were probably inefficient sources for volatile delivery to permanently shadowed lunar polar regions. ©2020. American Geophysical Union. All Rights Reserved.
AB - A transient lunar atmosphere formed during a peak period of volcanic outgassing and lasting up to about ~70 Ma was recently proposed. We utilize forward-modeling of individual lunar basaltic eruptions and the observed geologic record to predict eruption frequency, magma volumes, and rates of volcanic volatile release. Typical lunar mare basalt eruptions have volumes of ~102–103 km3, last less than a year, and have a rapidly decreasing volatile release rate. The total volume of lunar mare basalts erupted is small, and the repose period between individual eruptions is predicted to range from 20,000 to 60,000 years. Only under very exceptional circumstances could sufficient volatiles be released in a single eruption to create a transient atmosphere with a pressure as large as ~0.5 Pa. The frequency of eruptions was likely too low to sustain any such atmosphere for more than a few thousand years. Transient, volcanically induced atmospheres were probably inefficient sources for volatile delivery to permanently shadowed lunar polar regions. ©2020. American Geophysical Union. All Rights Reserved.
KW - cold traps
KW - lunar atmosphere
KW - lunar volcanism
KW - permanently shadowed craters
KW - volatile release
KW - Basalt
KW - Volcanoes
KW - Basaltic eruptions
KW - Eruption frequency
KW - Forward modeling
KW - Lunar atmospheres
KW - Lunar polar regions
KW - Volatile delivery
KW - Volatile release
KW - Volcanic outgassing
KW - Moon
KW - assessment method
KW - basalt
KW - forward modeling
KW - lunar phase
KW - mare basalt
KW - trap (geological structure)
KW - volatile substance
KW - volcanic eruption
U2 - 10.1029/2020GL089509
DO - 10.1029/2020GL089509
M3 - Letter
VL - 47
JO - Geophysical Research Letters
JF - Geophysical Research Letters
SN - 0094-8276
IS - 18
ER -