Lunar fire fountain mystery solved?

[Waspie_Dwarf]

Research may solve lunar fire fountain mystery

PROVIDENCE, R.I. [brown University] - Tiny beads of volcanic glass found on the lunar surface during the Apollo missions are a sign that fire fountain eruptions took place on the Moon’s surface. Now, scientists from Brown University and the Carnegie Institution for Science have identified the volatile gas that drove those eruptions.

Fire fountains, a type of eruption that occurs frequently in Hawaii, require the presence of volatiles mixed in with the erupting lava. Volatile compounds turn into gas as the lavas rise from the depths. That expansion of that gas causes lava to blast into the air once it reaches the surface, a bit like taking the lid off a shaken bottle of soda.

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Edited September 2, 2015 by Waspie_Dwarf
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