Biology
Scientific paper
Dec 2010
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2010agufm.p13b1391r&link_type=abstract
American Geophysical Union, Fall Meeting 2010, abstract #P13B-1391
Biology
[5215] Planetary Sciences: Astrobiology / Origin Of Life, [5480] Planetary Sciences: Solid Surface Planets / Volcanism, [6250] Planetary Sciences: Solar System Objects / Moon, [8445] Volcanology / Experimental Volcanism
Scientific paper
The Moon has been passively recording events in the neighborhood of the Earth since soon after formation. Ancient particles, originating from the solar wind, solar flares, and galactic cosmic rays (GCRs), are likely to have been preserved in lunar regolith deposits. Discovery of these records could reveal much about the history of our solar system, including clues about the introduction and evolution of life on Earth. To find these ancient records we must look below the lunar surface to find paleoregoliths that have been shielded from continued bombardment. One method of protection is burial by a lava flow. Lava flows would provide protection from the introduction of younger particles and will provide material for isotopic dating, revealing the exposure age of the regolith deposit. However, heat conducted from the lava flow may volatilize solar wind particles and GCR-induced cosmogenic nuclei present in the regolith, thereby destroying the desired record. We have performed preliminary numerical analyses to determine the depths to which lava flows will heat regolith substrates on the Moon. In an attempt to validate these models, we have begun a series of experiments at Kilauea Volcano, Hawaii, to examine heat conduction from basaltic lava into various particulate materials, including the GSC-1 lunar regolith simulant. Our experimental devices consist of 20x20x10 cm boxes constructed from high-temperature calcium silicate insulation panels. These are filled with regolith simulant, embedded with a vertical thermocouple array, and deployed ahead of an advancing lava flow. The vertical temperature profile in the simulant is then recorded as the box is inundated by lava, while surface heat flux and flow morphological evolution are captured by thermal video and a stereo camera apparatus. Complementary experiments are also being performed using melted basalt in a laboratory setting. The field and laboratory measurements will be used to test and improve the numerical model under terrestrial conditions, thereby enhancing its application to the lunar environment. Although not a perfect analog to the lunar surface, Kilauea provides fairly reliable access to active basaltic lava. Differences in planetary gravity, as well as the atmospheric effects not present on the Moon, can readily be accounted for in the model. Through this combination of field analog experiments and numerical modeling, we seek to determine the depths in buried paleoregoliths beneath which implanted extralunar volatiles would survive. From this work we can then compile recommendations for exploration strategies to locate and retrieve pristine samples of ancient solar or galactic particles during future human or robotic missions to the Moon.
Crawford Ian
Elise Rumpf M.
Fagents Sarah A.
Hamilton Christopher W.
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