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Lunar formation. Dating the Moon-forming impact event with asteroidal meteorites
W F Bottke1, D Vokrouhlický2, S Marchi3
1Southwest Research Institute and NASA Solar System Exploration Research Virtual Institute (SSERVI)-Institute for the Science of Exploration Targets (ISET), Boulder, CO, USA. bottke@boulder.swri.edu.
Science (New York, N.Y.)
|April 18, 2015
Summary
The giant impact that formed the Moon ejected debris that heated asteroids, leaving behind signatures in meteorites. This research confirms the Moon formed approximately 4.47 billion years ago.
Area of Science:
- Planetary Science
- Cosmochemistry
- Impact Cratering
Background:
- The Moon-forming giant impact was the largest recent collision in the inner solar system.
- This event ejected significant mass from the Earth-Moon system.
- Asteroid impacts are crucial for understanding planetary evolution and material processing.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the fate of ejecta from the Moon-forming giant impact.
- To determine if these ejecta could have significantly heated main-belt asteroids.
- To refine the timeline of the Moon's formation using meteorite evidence.
Main Methods:
- Modeling the impact of kilometer-sized ejecta on main-belt asteroids at high velocities (>10 km/s).
- Comparing the heating effects of these high-velocity impacts to typical main-belt collisions (~5 km/s).
- Analyzing temporal evolution of impact heating signatures and fitting them to ancient stony meteorites.
Main Results:
- Ejecta from the giant impact hitting asteroids produced ~1000 times more heated material by volume than typical asteroid collisions.
- These impacts were sufficient to heat and degas target asteroid rock.
- Modeling results align with ancient impact heating signatures found in stony meteorites.
Conclusions:
- Debris from the Moon-forming impact likely collided with and heated main-belt asteroids.
- The study supports an estimated Moon formation age of ~4.47 billion years ago.
- This provides a link between the giant impact event and observable meteorite characteristics.
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