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Impactor material records the ancient lunar magnetic field in antipodal anomalies

Author

Listed:
  • S. Wakita

    (Purdue University
    Massachusetts Institute of Technology)

  • B. C. Johnson

    (Purdue University
    Purdue University)

  • I. Garrick-Bethell

    (University of California
    Kyung Hee University)

  • M. R. Kelley

    (University of California)

  • R. E. Maxwell

    (University of California)

  • T. M. Davison

    (Imperial College London)

Abstract

The Moon presently has no dynamo, but magnetic fields have been detected over numerous portions of its crust. Most of these regions are located antipodal to large basins, leading to the hypothesis that lunar rock ejected during basin-forming impacts accumulated at the basin antipode and recorded the ambient magnetic field. However, a major problem with this hypothesis is that lunar materials have low iron content and cannot become strongly magnetized. Here we simulate oblique impacts of 100-km-diameter impactors at high resolution and show that an ~700 m thick deposit of potentially iron-rich impactor material accumulates at the basin antipode. The material is shock-heated above the Curie temperature and therefore may efficiently record the ambient magnetic field after deposition. These results explain a substantial fraction of the Moon’s crustal magnetism, and are consistent with a dynamo field strength of at least several tens of microtesla during the basin-forming epoch.

Suggested Citation

  • S. Wakita & B. C. Johnson & I. Garrick-Bethell & M. R. Kelley & R. E. Maxwell & T. M. Davison, 2021. "Impactor material records the ancient lunar magnetic field in antipodal anomalies," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 12(1), pages 1-7, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:12:y:2021:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-021-26860-1
    DOI: 10.1038/s41467-021-26860-1
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Emerson J. Speyerer & Reinhold Z. Povilaitis & Mark S. Robinson & Peter C. Thomas & Robert V. Wagner, 2016. "Quantifying crater production and regolith overturn on the Moon with temporal imaging," Nature, Nature, vol. 538(7624), pages 215-218, October.
    2. Brandon C. Johnson & David A. Minton & H. J. Melosh & Maria T. Zuber, 2015. "Impact jetting as the origin of chondrules," Nature, Nature, vol. 517(7534), pages 339-341, January.
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