Lunar regolith as a probe of solar history --Abstract only

Physics

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Atmospheric Composition, Lunar Surface, Regolith, Solar Wind, Helium Isotopes, Mission Planning, Neon Isotopes, Nitrogen Isotopes, Solar Physics, Moon, Regolith, Implantation, Samples, Lunar, Apollo Missions, Flux, Solar Wind, History, Isotopic Ratios, Nitrogen, Rare Gases, Abundance, Xenon, Helium, Neon, Isotopes

Scientific paper

Several long-term variations in elements of apparently solar origin, implanted in lunar regolith over roughly 4Gyr, have been inferred from analysis of Apollo samples. These include: (1) A decrease by a factor of a few, in the overall solar-wind flux; (2) An approximately 40% increase in the ratio N-15/N-14; (3) A decrease of about 50% in the proportions of Xe and He relative to other noble gases; (4) A roughly 20% increase in the ratio He-3/He-4; (5) An increase of about 3% in the ratio Ne-20/Ne-22. The actual time dependence of these changes is presently uncertain; for N the variation is apparently a complex function of time. In addition, systematic isotopic differences, of about 20% /amu apparently as a function of implantation energy, have been observed for solar-derived N and Ne. Further study employing both improved lunar surface and/or spacecraft experiments and specifically selected samples from future lunar missions is needed to elucidate the solar physics responsible for these phenomena, none of which are currently well understood.

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