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Oxygen if the third most abundant element in the universe.[1] The Moon minerals contain plenty of it: The finer regolith, the lunar soil of silicon dioxide gl
by nandomrumber 6mo ago
Oxygen if the third most abundant element in the universe.[1]
The Moon minerals contain plenty of it:
The finer regolith, the lunar soil of silicon dioxide glass.[2]
Minerals forming the lunar crust are made up of oxygen, silicon, magnesium, iron, calcium, and aluminum, along with small amounts of titanium, uranium, thorium, potassium, and hydrogen.[3]
I figure you mean free oxygen or diatomic oxygen O₂, but that stuff is rare in the universe, as it’s quite reactive, and largely irrelevant for asteroid impact chemistry extreme heat and pressure, plenty of oxygen available in the rocks smashing together.
1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oxygen https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oxygen
2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moon https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moon
3. https://science.nasa.gov/moon/composition/ https://science.nasa.gov/moon/composition/
- semi-extrinsic 6mo agoEven though some minerals on the Moon contain oxygen, it doesn't mean the dust can't oxidize further when exposed to a gaseous atmosphere with high oxygen partial pressure.
- daveguy 6mo agoExactly this. Oxygen in minerals is very different than gaseous oxygen.
- nandomrumber 6mo agoThe dust is predominantly silicone dioxide (glass), which is notoriously stable / non-reactive.
- mapt 6mo agoBut does the oxidative effect of rare short-lived impact atmospheres match the other chemistry associated with being exposed to billions of years of hard (blackbody) sunlight, solar wind, and cosmic rays on the surface of a body without much of a magnetosphere? How much are those impact oxides, particularly the ones in fine dust, shorn of their chemical bonds?