Vol 436|4 August 2005
NEWS & VIEWS
GEOCHEMISTRY
On the Moon as it was on Earth
Bernard Marty
Does the Moon’s surface contain an archive of the early history of Earth? According to an intriguing idea, based on
recently published analyses of lunar soils, it might do — and the proposal can be tested.
The onset of the terrestrial dynamo, resulting
from slow cooling of the core and crystalliza-
tion of its inner part, led to the development of
the geomagnetic field that shields Earth’s sur-
face from extraterrestrial material and cosmic
rays. The mechanism and timing of this event
are unknown, but Ozima et al. (page 655 of
this issue)1 argue that the problem can be
tackled from a fresh perspective.
Ozima et al. base their thinking on a new
interpretation of geochemical data obtained
from lunar soils recovered by the Apollo mis-
sions. They propose that, before the terrestrial
dynamo kicked in, ions escaped from the top
of Earth’s atmosphere, and were implanted in
lunar soils together with ions emitted by the
Sun in the so-called solar wind. The process
ended with the emergence of the geomagnetic
field, and ions implanted in lunar soils have
since been dominated by input from the solar
wind. According to this model, then, the com-
position of volatile elements trapped in lunar
soils is a mix of ancient terrestrial atmosphere
and solar gas. The relative proportions varied
through geological time, offering the prospect
of investigating the epoch when the geo-
dynamo started, as well as the compositions
of these two sources.
Because it formed at high temperatures, the
Moon as a whole is depleted in volatile ele-
ments such as those in the atmosphere and the
oceans on Earth (hydrogen, carbon, nitrogen
and the noble gases, for example). But these
elements are abundant in lunar soils, pointing
to the existence of extra-lunar sources, two of
which are obvious.
The first stems from the fact that there is no
plate tectonics on the Moon — after the initial
stages of planetary building, the lunar sur-
face evolved as a result of the continuous
bombardment by ‘planetary material’. This is
material with a volatile-element composition
different from that of the Sun, and not derived
from the Sun, and includes asteroid and
cometary bodies of various sizes. Some of the
volatile elements trapped in these bodies were
vaporized and re-trapped in the surface of soil
grains. Second, ions from the solar wind are
directly implanted into surface grains at char-
acteristic depths of a few tens of nanometres.
Figure 1 | Fieldwork on the Moon. Buzz Aldrin
sets out the foil of a ‘solar-wind collector’.
This component has been detected in both
lunar soils and aluminium foils exposed to the
Sun by the Apollo astronauts (Fig. 1). The iso-
topic compositions of helium, neon and argon
(the only elements that could be analysed dur-
ing the experiments) in both sets of samples
are identical, showing that the solar-wind
component dominates the noble-gas inven-
tory of lunar soils.
But some other elements, in particular
nitrogen, do not fit into this picture2. Nitrogen
has two isotopes, 14N and 15N, and their ratio in
lunar soils varies by more than 30%, compared
— in most situations — with less than 2% on
Earth. No known nuclear process in the Sun or
its corona can account for the nitrogen-isotope
variations in lunar soils; moreover, nitrogen
is enriched in lunar soils compared with
noble gases in the solar wind, so it has been
argued that the solar wind alone cannot
account for the nitrogen-isotope and elemen-
tal abundances3,4.
Five years ago, analyses of grains of lunar
soil, made possible by technical advances, led
to the proposal5 that the nitrogen component
©2005 Nature Publishing Group
of the solar wind is depleted in 15N by more
NASA JOHNSON
than 24% relative to terrestrial nitrogen. The
suggestion was that the 15N enrichment of
lunar soil is ‘planetary’ in origin. Interplan-
etary dust particles are a particularly attractive
candidate source in this respect — the flux of
such particles dominates the extraterrestrial
flux on Earth, and, compared with the solar
wind, these particles are rich in 15N.
Ozima et al.1 have now come up with
another interpretation. They propose that the
15
N-rich content of lunar soils came from the
terrestrial atmosphere when the Moon was
closer than at present and the geomagnetic
field was not established, so allowing ions to
escape from Earth. They base their hypothesis
on isotope correlations resulting from mixing
between two sources. On the one hand, a solar
component free of deuterium (there is practi-
cally no deuterium in the Sun because it was
consumed during the deuterium-burning
stage of the star) and depleted in both 40Ar (the
solar gas is dominated by 36Ar) and 15N; and,
on the other hand, an atmospheric component
containing deuterium (from the oceans) and
40
Ar (produced in the Earth by the decay of
40
K), and enriched in 15N. Ozima et al. com-
pute the flux of atmospheric species that their
model demands and find it compatible with
geochemical observations.
This interpretation can account for some of
the noble-gas and stable-isotope variations,
and it is consistent with the source strength
required to account for the lunar soil inven-
tory. But interplanetary dust particles are also
enriched in deuterium and 15N relative to
the solar wind, and their flux, estimated from
extrapolation of terrestrial measurements, can
provide the required amounts of deuterium
and nitrogen in lunar soils6 (the occurrence of
40
Ar is alternatively explained by degassing of
the lunar interior). Another problem is that
soils depleted in 15N tend to show higher
amounts of 40Ar (relative to 36Ar) than soils
rich in 15N, whereas Ozima and colleagues’
proposal requires close association between
15
N-rich nitrogen and 40Ar-rich argon. Lunar
soils might in fact reflect the contributions of
three sources, thus obscuring isotopic trends
— a component from Earth’s atmosphere, the
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NEWS & VIEWS NATURE|Vol 436|4 August 2005

flux of which has varied drastically over time;
a flux of interplanetary dust particles, which
might have also varied through time; and a
near-constant flux from the solar wind.
Ozima and colleagues’ hypothesis is
nonetheless thought-provoking, and has the
merit of being testable. First, the light-element
isotopic composition of the solar wind is
still not well known. But progress in defining
that will arise from an analysis of targets
exposed for 27 months during the Genesis
space mission. Second, as Ozima et al. point
out, lunar soils from the far side of the Moon
should contain fewer atmospheric volatiles
because that side has faced away from Earth
for most of the Moon’s history. We can hope
that exploration of the far side will be a
priority for future lunar missions; also, some
meteorites may originate from the far side and
are promising subjects for analysis.
We must wait and see. But if the hypothesis
turns out to be correct, it will open new
avenues of research into the history of Earth’s
magnetic field, and the possible connections
with the evolution of life and with environ-
mental conditions on the early Earth. ■ Space Sci. Rev. 106, 175–196 (2003).
Bernard Marty is at the Centre de Recherches
Pétrographiques et Géochimiques, 15 Rue Notre
Dame des Pauvres, BP 20, 54501 Vandoeuvre
Cedex, France.
e-mail: bmarty@crpg.cnrs-nancy.fr
1. Ozima, M. et al. Nature 436, 655–659 (2005).
2. Kerridge, J. F. Rev. Geophys. 31, 423–437 (1993).
3. Geiss, J. & Boschler, P. Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta 46,
529–548 (1982).
4. Wieler, R., Humbert, F. & Marty, B. Earth Planet. Sci. Lett.
167, 47–60 (1999).
5. Hashizume, K., Chaussidon, M., Marty, B. & Robert, F.
Science 290, 1142–1145 (2000).
6. Marty, B., Hashizume, K., Chaussidon, M. & Wieler, R.

NEUROBIOLOGY What determines where the axon will form?

To address this, Calderon de Anda et al.1
Getting axons going analysed cultured rat hippocampal neurons
from day 16 of embryonic development,
immediately after the neurons’ terminal divi-
Juergen A. Knoblich sion and before they become fully differenti-
Neurons extend one long axon, through which they transmit electrical ated. Using real-time analysis, the authors
show a sequence of events that correlates axon
impulses to other cells in the nervous system. Surprisingly, it seems that formation with a pre-existing polarity in the
where the axon forms is determined entirely within the neuron. undifferentiated neuron (Fig. 1a). After the
terminal division, the centrosome comes to lie
Neurons act as electrical relays: they collect final cell division, after which it becomes fully opposite the plane of cleavage. During differ-
information from other neurons through mul- specialized. entiation, the first lamellipodium forms in the
tiple extensions called dendrites, and transmit Neuronal differentiation can be followed in region of cell membrane overlying the centro-
this information through one long protrusion, cell culture. When neurons from a brain area some, and this is where the first neurite will
the axon. But the mechanism that determines called the hippocampus are plated onto coated grow. Calderon de Anda et al. also show that
where the axon forms at the neuronal surface coverslips, they follow a stereotypical sequence the axon consistently forms from the first neu-
has been unclear — it might be determined of differentiation events2. First, they form rite that grows out after the terminal division.
by an extracellular cue or by some intrinsic lamellipodia — highly dynamic protrusions So it is the plane of the terminal division that
polarity that exists in the neuron even before that characteristically grow out of the leading determines the site of axon emergence.
the axon begins to grow. On page 704 of edge of motile cells (stage 1). Shortly after- The results are not artefacts of cell culture
this issue, Calderon de Anda et al.1 resolve wards, they form four or five short extensions because the authors find a similar correlation
this question by describing an unexpected called neurites that have yet to gain the charac- for hippocampal neurons differentiating
correlation between axon outgrowth and teristics of axons or dendrites (stage 2). After in situ and for neurons in the developing eye
the position of the centrosome — a struc- 24 hours, one of the neurites extends rapidly of the fruitfly Drosophila. They are also not
ture that is involved in organizing the cell’s and will become the axon (stage 3). The merely a correlation but a causal link, because
internal scaffolding. The authors propose remaining neurites then acquire the character- ablation of centrosomes by a process known
that where the axon forms is ultimately deter- istics of dendrites (stage 4), and finally, axons as chromophore-assisted light inactivation
mined by the orientation of the neuron’s and dendrites form electrical contacts (stage 5). blocks axon outgrowth in cultured Drosophila

Figure 1 | Axon direction. Calderon de Anda et al.1 show that the centrosome first neurite extends from a position close to the centrosome. This
determines the position of axon outgrowth. a, Axon formation can be first neurite ultimately forms the axon, and the other, later neurites
modelled using cultured hippocampal neurons. The centrosome comes to become dendrites. b, No axon forms when the centrosome of a cultured
lie opposite the cleavage plane after the terminal cell division and initiates Drosophila neuron is destroyed by laser light. c, When the final stages
the formation of a lamellipodium, the first visible sign of neuronal of cell division are inhibited, two centrosomes are present. They initiate the
differentiation. Many more lamellipodia then form, and finally the formation of two axons.
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©2005 Nature Publishing Group