It is sometimes surprising how much difference we will get if we add ordinary water to a process. The moon appeared 4.4-4.5 billion years ago, after an object the size of Mars smashed into our planet. This blow formed a red-hot and partially evaporated disk of material revolving around the infant planet. As a result, it cooled down and our satellite appeared.
For many years, scientists believed that after the impact, the hydrogen obtained from the water molecules escaped from the disk and went off into space. This would lead to a dry moon, which corresponded to the analysis of the samples. But a thorough study of lunar chemistry shows that it may be more humid, which means questions arise about the process of its formation.
Researchers were able to create detailed models to determine if there could be lunar formation theories that would explain the presence of water and the lack of other volatile elements, such as potassium and sodium. They used different temperature conditions and the volume of water in the disk forming the satellite. At higher heating, silicate pairs created by the evaporation of the proto-Earth mantle and the striker prevailed. At lower temperatures, water prevailed on the disk, but hydrogen was not released, which does not make the process efficient enough.
However, it is good that the models created so far correspond to the variant with a drummer. But it also means that we will have to look for other reasons why there are so few potassium, sodium and other volatile elements on the moon. Perhaps they were present initially on the satellite and moved into space later.
