Early formation of the Moon 4.51 billion years ago

doi:10.1126/sciadv.1602365

. 2017 Jan 11;3(1):e1602365.

doi: 10.1126/sciadv.1602365. eCollection 2017 Jan.

Early formation of the Moon 4.51 billion years ago

Melanie Barboni¹, Patrick Boehnke², Brenhin Keller³, Issaku E Kohl¹, Blair Schoene⁴, Edward D Young¹, Kevin D McKeegan¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Earth, Planetary, and Space Sciences, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA.
² Department of Earth, Planetary, and Space Sciences, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA.; Department of the Geophysical Sciences, The University of Chicago, Chicago, IL 60637, USA.
³ Department of Geosciences, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08544, USA.; Berkeley Geochronology Center, Berkeley, CA 94709, USA.
⁴ Department of Geosciences, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08544, USA.

PMID: 28097222
PMCID: PMC5226643
DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.1602365

Free PMC article

Early formation of the Moon 4.51 billion years ago

Melanie Barboni et al. Sci Adv. 2017.

Free PMC article

. 2017 Jan 11;3(1):e1602365.

doi: 10.1126/sciadv.1602365. eCollection 2017 Jan.

Authors

Melanie Barboni¹, Patrick Boehnke², Brenhin Keller³, Issaku E Kohl¹, Blair Schoene⁴, Edward D Young¹, Kevin D McKeegan¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Earth, Planetary, and Space Sciences, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA.
² Department of Earth, Planetary, and Space Sciences, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA.; Department of the Geophysical Sciences, The University of Chicago, Chicago, IL 60637, USA.
³ Department of Geosciences, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08544, USA.; Berkeley Geochronology Center, Berkeley, CA 94709, USA.
⁴ Department of Geosciences, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08544, USA.

PMID: 28097222
PMCID: PMC5226643
DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.1602365

Abstract

Establishing the age of the Moon is critical to understanding solar system evolution and the formation of rocky planets, including Earth. However, despite its importance, the age of the Moon has never been accurately determined. We present uranium-lead dating of Apollo 14 zircon fragments that yield highly precise, concordant ages, demonstrating that they are robust against postcrystallization isotopic disturbances. Hafnium isotopic analyses of the same fragments show extremely low initial ¹⁷⁶Hf/¹⁷⁷Hf ratios corrected for cosmic ray exposure that are near the solar system initial value. Our data indicate differentiation of the lunar crust by 4.51 billion years, indicating the formation of the Moon within the first ~60 million years after the birth of the solar system.

Keywords: Age of the moon; Apollo zircons; early earth; early solar system evolution; giant impact; lunar magma ocean; planetary accretion.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

**Fig. 1. Concordia diagram of the Apollo 14 zircons used to determine Hf model ages.**
U-Pb ID-TIMS analyses of zircon leachate (empty ellipses) and analyses of the remaining zircon residues after step leaching (filled ellipses). Ellipses are color-coded for samples.

**Fig. 2. Magnitude of the neutron capture effect on Apollo zircons as shown by the shift in ¹⁷⁸Hf/¹⁷⁷Hf.**
The shift is expressed as a deviation in ε¹⁷⁸Hfs from the terrestrial value (56). Samples with a large offset in ε¹⁷⁸Hf all come from soil 14163 that experienced longer cosmic ray exposure on the near surface of the Moon.

**Fig. 3. Plot of ε¹⁷⁶Hf_CHUR versus ²⁰⁷Pb/²⁰⁶Pb zircon age (Gy).**
ε¹⁷⁶Hf_CHUR is evaluated by the difference between initial ε¹⁷⁶Hf(t) and the Hf isotopic composition of CHUR at time t (26). Taylor *et al.* (20) reported the data before and after neutron capture (NC) correction.

**Fig. 4. Hf model age (Gy) calculated for a Lu/Hf_source = 0 as a function of ²⁰⁷Pb/²⁰⁶Pb zircon crystallization age (Gy).**
Ranges of previously proposed ages for the Moon’s formation are also shown.

See this image and copyright information in PMC

Cited by

Setting the geological scene for the origin of life and continuing open questions about its emergence.
Westall F, Brack A, Fairén AG, Schulte MD. Westall F, et al. Front Astron Space Sci. 2023 Jan 5;9:1095701. doi: 10.3389/fspas.2022.1095701. Front Astron Space Sci. 2023. PMID: 38274407 Free PMC article.
Methodologies for ¹⁷⁶Lu-¹⁷⁶Hf Analysis of Zircon Grains from the Moon and Beyond.
Chen X, Dauphas N, Zhang ZJ, Schoene B, Barboni M, Leya I, Zhang J, Szymanowski D, McKeegan KD. Chen X, et al. ACS Earth Space Chem. 2023 Dec 7;8(1):36-53. doi: 10.1021/acsearthspacechem.3c00093. eCollection 2024 Jan 18. ACS Earth Space Chem. 2023. PMID: 38264084 Free PMC article.
Rapid transition from primary to secondary crust building on the Moon explained by mantle overturn.
Prissel TC, Zhang N, Jackson CRM, Li H. Prissel TC, et al. Nat Commun. 2023 Aug 17;14(1):5002. doi: 10.1038/s41467-023-40751-7. Nat Commun. 2023. PMID: 37591857 Free PMC article.
Why the day is 24 hours long: The history of Earth's atmospheric thermal tide, composition, and mean temperature.
Wu H, Murray N, Menou K, Lee C, Leconte J. Wu H, et al. Sci Adv. 2023 Jul 7;9(27):eadd2499. doi: 10.1126/sciadv.add2499. Epub 2023 Jul 5. Sci Adv. 2023. PMID: 37406113 Free PMC article.
Terrestrial planet and asteroid belt formation by Jupiter-Saturn chaotic excitation.
Lykawka PS, Ito T. Lykawka PS, et al. Sci Rep. 2023 Mar 27;13(1):4708. doi: 10.1038/s41598-023-30382-9. Sci Rep. 2023. PMID: 36973305 Free PMC article.

See all "Cited by" articles

References

1. Cameron A. G. W., Ward W. R., The origin of the Moon. Proc. Lunar Planet. Sci. Conf. 7, 120–122 (1976).
1. Ćuk M., Stewart S. T., Making the Moon from a fast-spinning Earth: A giant impact followed by resonant despinning. Science 338, 1047–1052 (2012). - PubMed
1. J. A. Wood, J. S. Dickey Jr., U. B. Marvin, B. N. Powell, Lunar anorthosites and a geophysical model of the Moon, Proceedings of the Apollo 11 Lunar Science Conference, Houston, Texas, 5 to 8 January 1970 (Pergamon Press, 1970), pp. 965–988.
1. Yin Q.-Z., Zhou Q., Li Q.-L., Li X.-H., Liu Y., Tang G.-Q., Krot A. N., Jenniskens P., Records of the Moon-forming impact and the 470 Ma disruption of the L chondrite parent body in the asteroid belt from U-Pb apatite ages of Novato (L6). Meteorit. Planet. Sci. 49, 1426–1439 (2014).
1. Bottke W. F., Vokrouhlický D., Marchi S., Swindle T., Scott E. R. D., Weirich J. R., Levison H., Dating the Moon-forming impact event with asteroidal meteorites. Science 348, 321–323 (2015). - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources

Full Text Sources
Other Literature Sources
- scite Smart Citations
Research Materials
- NCI CPTC Antibody Characterization Program
Miscellaneous
- NCI CPTAC Assay Portal

[1] Cameron A. G. W., Ward W. R., The origin of the Moon. Proc. Lunar Planet. Sci. Conf. 7, 120–122 (1976).

[2] Cameron A. G. W., Ward W. R., The origin of the Moon. Proc. Lunar Planet. Sci. Conf. 7, 120–122 (1976).

[3] Ćuk M., Stewart S. T., Making the Moon from a fast-spinning Earth: A giant impact followed by resonant despinning. Science 338, 1047–1052 (2012). - PubMed

[4] Ćuk M., Stewart S. T., Making the Moon from a fast-spinning Earth: A giant impact followed by resonant despinning. Science 338, 1047–1052 (2012). - PubMed

[5] J. A. Wood, J. S. Dickey Jr., U. B. Marvin, B. N. Powell, Lunar anorthosites and a geophysical model of the Moon, Proceedings of the Apollo 11 Lunar Science Conference, Houston, Texas, 5 to 8 January 1970 (Pergamon Press, 1970), pp. 965–988.

[6] J. A. Wood, J. S. Dickey Jr., U. B. Marvin, B. N. Powell, Lunar anorthosites and a geophysical model of the Moon, Proceedings of the Apollo 11 Lunar Science Conference, Houston, Texas, 5 to 8 January 1970 (Pergamon Press, 1970), pp. 965–988.

[7] Yin Q.-Z., Zhou Q., Li Q.-L., Li X.-H., Liu Y., Tang G.-Q., Krot A. N., Jenniskens P., Records of the Moon-forming impact and the 470 Ma disruption of the L chondrite parent body in the asteroid belt from U-Pb apatite ages of Novato (L6). Meteorit. Planet. Sci. 49, 1426–1439 (2014).

[8] Yin Q.-Z., Zhou Q., Li Q.-L., Li X.-H., Liu Y., Tang G.-Q., Krot A. N., Jenniskens P., Records of the Moon-forming impact and the 470 Ma disruption of the L chondrite parent body in the asteroid belt from U-Pb apatite ages of Novato (L6). Meteorit. Planet. Sci. 49, 1426–1439 (2014).

[9] Bottke W. F., Vokrouhlický D., Marchi S., Swindle T., Scott E. R. D., Weirich J. R., Levison H., Dating the Moon-forming impact event with asteroidal meteorites. Science 348, 321–323 (2015). - PubMed

[10] Bottke W. F., Vokrouhlický D., Marchi S., Swindle T., Scott E. R. D., Weirich J. R., Levison H., Dating the Moon-forming impact event with asteroidal meteorites. Science 348, 321–323 (2015). - PubMed

Save citation to file

Email citation

Add to Collections

Add to My Bibliography

Your saved search

Create a file for external citation management software

Your RSS Feed

Early formation of the Moon 4.51 billion years ago

Affiliations

Early formation of the Moon 4.51 billion years ago

Authors

Affiliations

Abstract

Figures

Similar articles

Cited by

References

LinkOut - more resources

Full Text Sources

Other Literature Sources

Research Materials

Miscellaneous

Abstract

Figures

Similar articles

Cited by

References

Related information

LinkOut - more resources

Full Text Sources

Other Literature Sources

Research Materials

Miscellaneous