Publication Abstracts

Varnam et al. 2024

Varnam, M., C.W. Hamilton, I. Aleinov, and J.J. Barnes, 2024: Composition and speciation of volcanic volatiles on the Moon. Icarus, 413, 116009, doi:10.1016/j.icarus.2024.116009.

Lunar volcanic volatiles are crucial for understanding eruption dynamics on the Moon as well as the potential formation, life span, and dissipation of a lunar secondary atmosphere. We review literature concerning volatile content, degassing extent, and speciation during the mare eruption period on the Moon from 4.0 to 1.2 Ga, providing a realistic summary of degassed compositions for the traditional volcanic elements C-O-H-S-F-Cl. The most reliable estimates of lunar volcanic volatiles come from high-titanium (high-Ti) glass beads sampled during the Apollo 17 mission. Analysis of these samples demonstrates that hydrogen is the most abundant element by mole in erupted volcanic gases, so a hydrogen species should be the most abundant molecule in the lunar gas, rather than carbon monoxide. This hydrogen is expected to speciate mostly as H2, rather than H2O, at the predicted oxygen fugacity for lunar magma. This difference is important because H2 more easily escapes from the Moon, whereas H2O could freeze out on the lunar surface, and potentially persist within permanently shadowed regions near the poles. We also find that sulfur, rather than carbon, is the third most abundant element in lunar volcanic gas, after hydrogen and oxygen.

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BibTeX Citation

@article{va07400v,
  author={Varnam, M. and Hamilton, C. W. and Aleinov, I. and Barnes, J. J.},
  title={Composition and speciation of volcanic volatiles on the Moon},
  year={2024},
  journal={Icarus},
  volume={413},
  pages={116009},
  doi={10.1016/j.icarus.2024.116009},
}

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RIS Citation

TY  - JOUR
ID  - va07400v
AU  - Varnam, M.
AU  - Hamilton, C. W.
AU  - Aleinov, I.
AU  - Barnes, J. J.
PY  - 2024
TI  - Composition and speciation of volcanic volatiles on the Moon
JA  - Icarus
JO  - Icarus
VL  - 413
SP  - 116009
DO  - 10.1016/j.icarus.2024.116009
ER  -

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