The glass beads that have been identified on its surface Moon probably act as water tankaccording research published in the journal Nature Geoscience. The research team led by Professor Hu Shen from the Institute of Geology and Geophysics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences discovered that the glass spheres resulting from an impact on the lunar soils contain water. In fact, studies show that these glass beads are likely a new reservoir of water on the Moon. Glass beads have homogeneous chemical compositions and smooth exposed surfaces. They are characterized by an abundance of water with exceptional deuterium-deficient characteristics. The negative correlation between water abundance and composition reflects the fact that the water in the globules comes from solar winds.

Water on the surface of the Moon has attracted great interest, and several missions to the Moon have confirmed the presence of water on the Moon. There is no doubt that most of the Moon’s surface hosts water, although the amount is much less than on Earth.

Water on the Moon’s surface exhibits diurnal cycles and loss to space, indicating that there must be a water layer or reservoir deep in lunar soils to hold, release, and replenish water on the Moon’s surface. However, previous studies of water reserves in fine mineral grains in lunar soils, volcanic rocks and glass beads have not been able to explain the retention, release and replenishment of water, i.e. the water cycle, on the surface of the Moon. Therefore, there must be an as-yet-unknown reservoir of water in the lunar soil that has the ability to regulate this water cycle.

The research was done in collaboration with Nanjing University, Britain’s Open University, the Natural History Museum, the University of Manchester and the University of Science and Technology of China.