Identification of the giant impactor Theia in lunar rocks
@article{Herwartz2014IdentificationOT,
title={Identification of the giant impactor Theia in lunar rocks},
author={Daniel Herwartz and Andreas Pack and Bjarne Friedrichs and Addi Bischoff},
journal={Science},
year={2014},
volume={344},
pages={1146 - 1150}
}An analysis of motes of the Moon maker How did the Moon form? According to the prevailing hypothesis, a Mars-sized body known as Theia smashed into Earth. Herwartz et al. analyzed fresh basalt samples from three Apollo landing sites and compared them with several samples of Earth's mantle. The oxygen isotope values measured in these lunar rocks differ significantly from the terrestrial material, supporting the giant-impact hypothesis. Science, this issue p. 1146 Isotopic oxygen measurements…
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