Volatile History of the Moon

The volatile history of the Moon is challenging to reconstruct, and current petrological evidence is somewhat contradictory in terms of the Moon's mantle being water-rich or water-poor1-3. Key to understanding this history is the volcanic activity that we know shaped the Moon's surface and provided an efficient volatile outgassing mechanism. New quantification of the H2O and CO content of lunar magmas can be provided by assessing lunar mass eruption rates through comparison with eruption processes constrained by geomorphological studies of eruption deposits on the Moon's surface. This overall information can then be used in magma ascent models, adapted for lunar conditions, to determine volatile contents of magmas which are consistent with observed pyroclastic deposits. These new insights will shed light on the evolution of volatiles in the Moon, the distribution of volatiles between the Earth and the Moon, and provide new constraints on the processes which modify the interior and atmosphere of Solar System bodies