Is it Likely That Earth rocks exist on the Moon?
August 19th 2008 03:45
The short answer is yes it is plausible that material from earth could be found on the moon.
Every minute thousands of meteorites strike the earth’s atmosphere. Fortunately most meteorite are small ranging from a few grains of sand to perhaps large fragment weighting several kilograms. Most fragments burn up in the upper part of the earth’s atmosphere and are what we call shooting stars living a bright elongated light trail in the night sky. Some do make to earth and are found by metal detectors.
Fragment of Martian Rock ALH84001,0 found in Antarctica
There is strong evidence to suggest that when an asteroid struck the earth with violent consequences like the one that stuck earth in south America some 65 million years ago . The force would have been violent enough with enough energy to dislodge fragments of earth rock and launch them into space where some would eventually impact on the moon’s surface. The sterile environment on the moon would keep any earth rock sample perfectly preserved.
There is a slight problem the moon lacks any appreciable atmosphere. Meteorites arriving on Earth are decelerated by passing through our atmosphere. As a result, while the surface of the meteorite may melt, the interior the outer edge ( the part of the rock furthest away from the impact) is often preserved intact. Laboratory test have showed that a high energy impact may melt a portion of the rock but there would be an appreciable amount of rock that would survive after impacting the moon.
Only time will tell if the theory is correct, perhaps future moon expeditions could one day discover and bring back earth rocks from the moon.
Image credits:NASA/ Carlcan
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