Lunar orbital evolution: A synthesis of recent results

Bills, B. G.; Ray, Richard D.

doi:10.1029/1999gl008348

Cited by 115 publications

(90 citation statements)

References 36 publications

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“…Third, we assumed constant tidal properties for Earth throughout the calculation, which is in conflict with the fact that the current rate of the Moon's tidal recession is about three times higher than the long-term average 35 . An increase in the tidal dissipation within Earth's oceans over time as suggested by modeling 36,37 would mean that the Moon spent more time at the Cassini state transition than we calculated, allowing more damping of inclination. These factors are all independent of the fact that the Moon may not have been in synchronous rotation during the Cassini state transition, as discussed in this work.…”

mentioning

confidence: 84%

Tidal evolution of the Moon from a high-obliquity, high-angular-momentum Earth

Ćuk

Hamilton

Lock

et al. 2016

Nature

125

103

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In the giant impact hypothesis for lunar origin, the Moon accreted from an equatorial circumterrestrial disk; however the current lunar orbital inclination of 5 • requires a subsequent dynamical process that is still debated [1][2][3] . In addition, the giant impact theory has been challenged by the Moon's unexpectedly Earth-like isotopic composition 4, 5 . Here, we show that tidal dissipation due to lunar obliquity was an important effect during the Moon's tidal evolution, and the past lunar inclination must have been very large, defying theoretical explanations. We present a new tidal evolution model starting with the Moon in an equatorial orbit around an initially fast-spinning, high-obliquity Earth, which is a probable outcome of giant impacts. Using numerical modeling, we show that the solar perturbations on the Moon's orbit naturally induce a large lunar inclination and remove angular momentum from the 1 arXiv:1802.03356v1 [astro-ph.EP] 9 Feb 2018Earth-Moon system. Our tidal evolution model supports recent high-angular momentum giant impact scenarios to explain the Moon's isotopic composition [6][7][8] and provides a new pathway to reach Earth's climatically favorable low obliquity.The leading theory for lunar origin is the giant impact 9, 10 , which explains the Moon's large relative size and small iron core. Here we refer to the giant impact theory in which the Earth-Moon post-impact angular momentum (AM) was the same as it is now (in agreement with classic lunar tidal evolution studies 11, 12 ) as "canonical". In the canonical giant impact model 13 , a Mars-mass body obliquely impacts the proto-Earth near the escape velocity to generate a circum-terrestrial debris disk. The angular momentum of the system is set by the impact, and the Moon accretes from the disk, which is predominantly (> 60 wt%) composed of impactor material. However, Earth and the Moon share nearly identical isotope ratios for a wide range of elements, and this isotopic signature is distinct from all other extraterrestrial materials 4, 5 . Because isotopic variations arise from multiple processes 4 , the Moon must have formed from, or equilibrated with, Earth's mantle 5,14 . Earth-Moon isotopic equilibration in the canonical model has been proposed by Pahlevan and Stevenson 15 , but has been questioned by other researchers 16 , who suggest that the large amount of mass exchange required to homogenize isotopes could lead to the collapse of the proto-lunar disk.Cuk and Stewart 6 proposed a new variant of the giant impact that is based on an initially high AM Earth-Moon system. In this model, a late erosive impact onto a fast-spinning proto-Earth produced a disk that was massive enough to form the Moon, and was composed primarily of material from Earth, potentially satisfying the isotopic observations. Canup 7 presented a variation of a high-2 AM origin in which a slow collision between two similar-mass bodies produces a fast-spinning Earth and disk with Earth-like composition. Subsequently, Lock et al. 8 have argued that a range of hig...

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mentioning

confidence: 84%

Tidal evolution of the Moon from a high-obliquity, high-angular-momentum Earth

Ćuk

Hamilton

Lock

et al. 2016

Nature

125

103

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“…Of course, the tidal interactions in the Earth−Moon system have caused a gradual expansion of this orbit, but there is a large uncertainty over the integrated amount of this acceleration over the previous 4 Gyr. We base our estimate on results by Bills & Ray (1999) and use a semi-major axis for the Moon that is one half of the present value, that is, about 182 000 km. For simplicity, we take this orbit to be circular and situated in the ecliptic plane.…”

Section: Lunar and Planetary Orbitsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Cometary impact rates on the Moon and planets during the late heavy bombardment

Rickman

Wiśniowski

Gabryszewski

et al. 2017

A&A

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Context. The Nice model predicts that the trans-planetary planetesimal disk made a large or even dominant contribution to the cratering in the inner solar system during the late heavy bombardment (LHB). In the presence of evidence that lunar craters and mare basins may be mainly of asteroidal origin, there is a dilemma of the missing comets that is not yet resolved. Aims. We aim to revisit the problem of cometary impact rates on the Moon and the terrestrial planets during the LHB with a flexible model, allowing us to study the influences of physical destruction of comets, the mass of the primordial disk, and the distribution of this mass over the entire size range. Methods. We performed a Monte Carlo study of the dynamics of the cometary LHB projectiles and derive the impact rates by calculating individual collision probabilities for a huge sample of projectile orbits. We used Minimum Orbit Intersection Distances (MOIDs) according to a new scheme introduced here. Different calculations were performed using different models for the physical evolution of comet nuclei and for the properties of the primordial, trans-planetary disk. Results. Based on the capture probability of Jupiter Trojans, we find a best fit radius of the largest LHB comet impacting the Moon for a low-mass primordial disk. For this disk mass, the LHB cratering of the Moon, Mercury and Mars were dominated by asteroids. However, some smaller lunar maria were likely preceded by comet impacts. The volatile delivery to the Earth and Mars by LHB comets was much less than their water inventories. Conclusions. There is no excessive cometary cratering, if the LHB was caused by a late planetary instability in the Nice Model. The Earth and Mars obtained their water very early in their histories. The Noachian water flows on Mars cannot be attributed to the arrival of LHB-related H 2 O or CO 2 .

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“…Also, theories have suggested that because of tidal energy dissipation, the Moon has been receding from the Earth. Recent theoretical studies concluded that the distance between the Earth and the Moon was about half of the present distance circa 4 Ga ago (2,3). These theoretical conclusions suggest the possibility that there has been interaction between the Earth's atmosphere and the near-side lunar surface in ancient time.…”

mentioning

confidence: 85%

“…For example, in the case of the EW, about 10 3 O ϩ ions per cm 2 are estimated to hit the lunar surface according to the Geotail observation (6). Assuming that this flux was implanted into an ilmenite grain for 1.5 ϫ 10 5 years of a mean surface exposure time (34) 3 . Considering large uncertainties in observed values used in the above estimation such as the escaping O ϩ flux and the interacting SW intensity, a factor of 10 difference between the 2 estimates in the oxygen concentration can reasonably be tolerated.…”

Section: Prescription For Experimental Proceduresmentioning

confidence: 99%

Toward understanding early Earth evolution: Prescription for approach from terrestrial noble gas and light element records in lunar soils

Ozima

Yin

Podosek³

et al. 2008

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

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Because of the almost total lack of geological record on the Earth's surface before 4 billion years ago, the history of the Earth during this period is still enigmatic. Here we describe a practical approach to tackle the formidable problems caused by this lack. We propose that examinations of lunar soils for light elements such as He, N, O, Ne, and Ar would shed a new light on this dark age in the Earth's history and resolve three of the most fundamental questions in earth science: the onset time of the geomagnetic field, the appearance of an oxygen atmosphere, and the secular variation of an Earth-Moon dynamical system. earth wind ͉ Earth-Moon dynamics ͉ geomagnetic field ͉ oxygen atmosphere ͉ solar wind

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Lunar orbital evolution: A synthesis of recent results

Cited by 115 publications

References 36 publications

Tidal evolution of the Moon from a high-obliquity, high-angular-momentum Earth

Tidal evolution of the Moon from a high-obliquity, high-angular-momentum Earth

Cometary impact rates on the Moon and planets during the late heavy bombardment

Toward understanding early Earth evolution: Prescription for approach from terrestrial noble gas and light element records in lunar soils

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