Constraints on volatile concentrations of pre-eruptive lunar magma

Until recently, the Moon had long been thought to be depleted of volatiles such as H2O, S, COx and Cl2. Researchers have recently measured volatile concentrations in the minerals, glasses and inclusions of lunar samples, and the results show that lunar rocks contain volatiles that are more similar to terrestrial materials than was previously thought. Mare basalts are located on the Earth-facing hemisphere in large impact basins, and they are not representative of the feldspathic highlands. Thus, it is likely that the density of lunar mafic magma exceeds that of the highland rocks based on buoyancy alone. According to this observational fact, we calculate the density of mare basalt to give a constraint for the maximum amount of water mare basalt can contain because water can effectively decrease the density of mare magma. Our result shows that water contained in the pre-eruptive magma could not have been more than 1000 ppm; otherwise, the density of very-low-Ti basaltic magma would be less than that of the highland rocks. Additionally, if magma contains other species of volatiles such as C–O, S, F, or Cl2, the water in the pre-eruptive magma would have to be much less than 1000 ppm because volatiles such as CO2 can effectively decrease the solubility of water in silicate melts. Based on these calculations on densities and a comparison with water in MORB, we conclude that the moon’s water is not as great as has been recently suggested.