New Mineral Discovery Confirms Water on the Moon

A new discovery reinforces the belief that water exists on the Moon. A team of Japanese scientists identified the mineral moganite within a lunar meteorite found in the desert of northwest Africa. Similar to quartz, moganite is a crystal of silicon dioxide that requires water to grow. “It forms on Earth as a precipitate when alkaline water including SiO2 [silicon dioxide] is evaporated under high-pressure conditions,” according to group leader Masahiro Kayama, a professor at Tohoku University.

“*The existence of moganite strongly implies that there is water activity on the Moon*,” he said in a statement. Kayama & Co. analyzed the chemical compositions and structures of 13 lunar meteorites—only one of which contained moganite. Which confirms the scientists’ theory that it was not established in the African desert.

“If terrestrial weathering had produced moganite in the lunar meteorite, there should be moganite present in all the samples that fell to Earth around the same time,” Kayama said. “But this was not the case.” These researchers struck gold when they stumbled upon moganite; this marks the first instance of the mineral in lunar rocks.

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