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The origin of the Moon's large-scale topography is important for understanding lunar geology, lunar orbital evolution, and the Moon's orientation in the sky.  Previous hypotheses for its origin have included late accretion events, large impacts, tidal effects, and convection processes.  However, testing these hypotheses and quantifying the Moon's topography is complicated by the large basins that have formed since the crust crystallized.  Here we estimate the low-order lunar topography and gravity spherical harmonics outside these basins and show that the bulk of the degree-2 topography is consistent with a crust-building process controlled by early tidal heating throughout the Moon.  The remainder of the degree-2 topography is consistent with a frozen tidal-rotational bulge that formed later, at a semi-major axis of »32 Earth radii.  The probability of the degree-2 shape having these two separate tidal characteristics by chance is less than 1%.  We also infer that internal density contrasts eventually reoriented the Moon's polar axis 36 ± 4°, to the present configuration we observe today.  Together, these results link the geology of the near and far sides, and resolve long-standing questions about the Moon's low-order shape, gravity, and history of polar wander.

Lunar rocks contain a record of an ancient magnetic field that seems to have persisted for more than 400 million years (1,2) and which has been attributed to a lunar dynamo (3,4). Models of conventional dynamos driven by thermal or compositional convection have had difficulty reproducing the existence and apparently long duration of the lunar dynamo (5-7). Here we investigate an alternative mechanism of dynamo generation: continuous mechanical stirring arising from the differential motion, due to Earth-driven precession of the lunar spin axis, between the solid silicate mantle and the liquid core beneath (8,9). We show that the fluid motions and the power required to drive a dynamo operating continuously for more than one billion years and generating a magnetic field that had an intensity of more than one microtesla 4.2 billion years ago (3) are readily obtained by mechanical stirring. The magnetic field is predicted to decrease with time and to shut off naturally when the Moon recedes far enough from Earth that the dissipated power is insufficient to drive a dynamo; in our nominal model, this occurred at about 48 Earth radii (2.7 billion years ago). Thus, lunar palaeo-magnetic measurements maybe able to constrain the poorly known early orbital evolution of the Moon. This mechanism may also be applicable to dynamos in other bodies, such as large asteroids., Several lines of evidence (2,10) point to the Moon having an iron core that is 300-400 km in radius and probably at least partly molten at the present day. A [...]

The observation that one hemisphere of Mars is lower and has a thinner crust than the other (the 'martian hemispheric dichotomy') (1-3) has been a puzzle for 30 years. The [...]

Author(s): F. Nimmo (corresponding author) [1]; D. P. Hamilton [2]; W. B. McKinnon [3]; P. M. Schenk [4]; R. P. Binzel [5]; C. J. Bierson [1]; R. A. Beyer [6]; [...]

Author(s): W. M. Grundy (corresponding author) [1]; D. P. Cruikshank [2]; G. R. Gladstone [3]; C. J. A. Howett [4]; T. R. Lauer [5]; J. R. Spencer [4]; M. E. [...]

Io experiences tidal deformation due to its eccentric orbit around Jupiter, which provides a primary energy source for Io's ongoing volcanic activity and infrared emission 1 . The amount of tidal energy dissipated within Io is enormous and has been hypothesized to support the large-scale melting of Io's interior and the formation of a global subsurface magma ocean. If Io has a shallow global magma ocean, its tidal deformation would be much larger than in the case of a more rigid, mostly solid interior 2 . Here we report the measurement of Io's tidal deformation, quantified by the gravitational tidal Love number k 2 , enabled by two recent flybys of the Juno spacecraft. By combining Juno 3,4 and Galileo 5-7 Doppler data from the Deep Space Network and astrometric observations, we recover Re(k 2 ) of 0.125±0.047 (1σ) and the tidal dissipation parameter Q of 11.4±3.6 (1σ). These measurements confirm that a shallow global magma ocean in Io does not exist and are consistent with Io having a mostly solid mantle 2 . Our results indicate that tidal forces do not universally create global magma oceans, which may be prevented from forming due to rapid melt ascent, intrusion, and eruption 8,9 , so even strong tidal heating - like that expected on several known exoplanets and super-Earths 10 - may not guarantee the formation of magma oceans on moons or planetary bodies., (© 2024. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Limited.)

The last giant impact on Earth is thought to have formed the Moon 1 . The timing of this event can be determined by dating the different rocks assumed to have crystallized from the lunar magma ocean (LMO). This has led to a wide range of estimates for the age of the Moon between 4.35 and 4.51 billion years ago (Ga), depending on whether ages for lunar whole-rock samples 2-4 or individual zircon grains 5-7 are used. Here we argue that the frequent occurrence of approximately 4.35-Ga ages among lunar rocks and a spike in zircon ages at about the same time 8 is indicative of a remelting event driven by the Moon's orbital evolution rather than the original crystallization of the LMO. We show that during passage through the Laplace plane transition 9 , the Moon experienced sufficient tidal heating and melting to reset the formation ages of most lunar samples, while retaining an earlier frozen-in shape 10 and rare, earlier-formed zircons. This paradigm reconciles existing discrepancies in estimates for the crystallization time of the LMO, and permits formation of the Moon within a few tens of million years of Solar System formation, consistent with dynamical models of terrestrial planet formation 11 . Remelting of the Moon also explains the lower number of lunar impact basins than expected 12,13 , and allows metal from planetesimals accreted to the Moon after its formation to be removed to the lunar core, explaining the apparent deficit of such materials in the Moon compared with Earth 14 ., Competing Interests: Competing interests: The authors declare no competing interests., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

Plate tectonics is a fundamental factor in the sustained habitability of Earth, but its time of onset is unknown, with ages ranging from the Hadaean to Proterozoic eons 1-3 . Plate motion is a key diagnostic to distinguish between plate and stagnant-lid tectonics, but palaeomagnetic tests have been thwarted because the planet's oldest extant rocks have been metamorphosed and/or deformed 4 . Herein, we report palaeointensity data from Hadaean-age to Mesoarchaean-age single detrital zircons bearing primary magnetite inclusions from the Barberton Greenstone Belt of South Africa 5 . These reveal a pattern of palaeointensities from the Eoarchaean (about 3.9 billion years ago (Ga)) to Mesoarchaean (about 3.3 Ga) eras that is nearly identical to that defined by primary magnetizations from the Jack Hills (JH; Western Australia) 6,7 , further demonstrating the recording fidelity of select detrital zircons. Moreover, palaeofield values are nearly constant between about 3.9 Ga and about 3.4 Ga. This indicates unvarying latitudes, an observation distinct from plate tectonics of the past 600 million years (Myr) but predicted by stagnant-lid convection. If life originated by the Eoarchaean 8 , and persisted to the occurrence of stromatolites half a billion years later 9 , it did so when Earth was in a stagnant-lid regime, without plate-tectonics-driven geochemical cycling., (© 2023. The Author(s).)

It has long been recognized that Earth and other differentiated planetary bodies are chemically fractionated compared to primitive, chondritic meteorites and, by inference, the primordial disk from which they formed. However, it is not known whether the notable volatile depletions of planetary bodies are a consequence of accretion or inherited from prior nebular fractionation. The isotopic compositions of the main constituents of planetary bodies can contribute to this debate. Here we develop an analytical approach that corrects a major cause of measurement inaccuracy inherent in conventional methods, and show that all differentiated bodies have isotopically heavier magnesium compositions than chondritic meteorites. We argue that possible magnesium isotope fractionation during condensation of the solar nebula, core formation and silicate differentiation cannot explain these observations. However, isotopic fractionation between liquid and vapour, followed by vapour escape during accretionary growth of planetesimals, generates appropriate residual compositions. Our modelling implies that the isotopic compositions of magnesium, silicon and iron, and the relative abundances of the major elements of Earth and other planetary bodies, are a natural consequence of substantial (about 40 per cent by mass) vapour loss from growing planetesimals by this mechanism.

Recent palaeomagnetic observations report the existence of a magnetic field on Earth that is at least 3.45 billion years old. Compositional buoyancy caused by inner-core growth is the primary driver of Earth's present-day geodynamo, but the inner core is too young to explain the existence of a magnetic field before about one billion years ago. Theoretical models propose that the exsolution of magnesium oxide--the major constituent of Earth's mantle--from the core provided a major source of the energy required to drive an early dynamo, but experimental evidence for the incorporation of mantle components into the core has been lacking. Indeed, terrestrial core formation occurred in the early molten Earth by gravitational segregation of immiscible metal and silicate melts, transporting iron-loving (siderophile) elements from the silicate mantle to the metallic core and leaving rock-loving (lithophile) mantle components behind. Here we present experiments showing that magnesium oxide dissolves in core-forming iron melt at very high temperatures. Using core-formation models, we show that extreme events during Earth's accretion (such as the Moon-forming giant impact) could have contributed large amounts of magnesium to the early core. As the core subsequently cooled, exsolution of buoyant magnesium oxide would have taken place at the core–mantle boundary, generating a substantial amount of gravitational energy as a result of compositional buoyancy. This amount of energy is comparable to, if not more than, that produced by inner-core growth, resolving the conundrum posed by the existence of an ancient magnetic field prior to the formation of the inner core.

The vast, deep, volatile-ice-filled basin informally named Sputnik Planum is central to Pluto's vigorous geological activity. Composed of molecular nitrogen, methane, and carbon monoxide ices, but dominated by nitrogen ice, this layer is organized into cells or polygons, typically about 10 to 40 kilometres across, that resemble the surface manifestation of solid-state convection. Here we report, on the basis of available rheological measurements, that solid layers of nitrogen ice with a thickness in excess of about one kilometre should undergo convection for estimated present-day heat-flow conditions on Pluto. More importantly, we show numerically that convective overturn in a several-kilometre-thick layer of solid nitrogen can explain the great lateral width of the cells. The temperature dependence of nitrogen-ice viscosity implies that the ice layer convects in the so-called sluggish lid regime, a unique convective mode not previously definitively observed in the Solar System. Average surface horizontal velocities of a few centimetres a year imply surface transport or renewal times of about 500,000 years, well under the ten-million-year upper-limit crater retention age for Sputnik Planum. Similar convective surface renewal may also occur on other dwarf planets in the Kuiper belt, which may help to explain the high albedos shown by some of these bodies.

Palaeomagnetic measurements of meteorites suggest that, shortly after the birth of the Solar System, the molten metallic cores of many small planetary bodies convected vigorously and were capable of generating magnetic fields. Convection on these bodies is currently thought to have been thermally driven, implying that magnetic activity would have been short-lived. Here we report a time-series palaeomagnetic record derived from nanomagnetic imaging of the Imilac and Esquel pallasite meteorites, a group of meteorites consisting of centimetre-sized metallic and silicate phases. We find a history of long-lived magnetic activity on the pallasite parent body, capturing the decay and eventual shutdown of the magnetic field as core solidification completed. We demonstrate that magnetic activity driven by progressive solidification of an inner core is consistent with our measured magnetic field characteristics and cooling rates. Solidification-driven convection was probably common among small body cores, and, in contrast to thermally driven convection, will have led to a relatively late (hundreds of millions of years after accretion), long-lasting, intense and widespread epoch of magnetic activity among these bodies in the early Solar System.

The tectonic patterns and stress history of Europa are exceedingly complex and many large-scale features remain unexplained. True polar wander, involving reorientation of Europa's floating outer ice shell about the tidal axis with Jupiter, has been proposed as a possible explanation for some of the features. This mechanism is possible if the icy shell is latitudinally variable in thickness and decoupled from the rocky interior. It would impose high stress levels on the shell, leading to predictable fracture patterns. No satisfactory match to global-scale features has hitherto been found for polar wander stress patterns. Here we describe broad arcuate troughs and depressions on Europa that do not fit other proposed stress mechanisms in their current position. Using imaging from three spacecraft, we have mapped two global-scale organized concentric antipodal sets of arcuate troughs up to hundreds of kilometres long and 300 m to approximately 1.5 km deep. An excellent match to these features is found with stresses caused by an episode of approximately 80 degrees true polar wander. These depressions also appear to be geographically related to other large-scale bright and dark lineaments, suggesting that many of Europa's tectonic patterns may also be related to true polar wander.

Enceladus is a small icy satellite of Saturn. Its south polar region consists of young, tectonically deformed terrain and has an anomalously high heat flux. This heat flux is probably due to localized tidal dissipation within either the ice shell or the underlying silicate core. The surface deformation is plausibly due to upwelling of low-density material (diapirism) as a result of this tidal heating. Here we show that the current polar location of the hotspot can be explained by reorientation of the satellite's rotation axis because of the presence of a low-density diapir. If the diapir is in the ice shell, then the shell must be relatively thick and maintain significant rigidity (elastic thickness greater than approximately 0.5 km); if the diapir is in the silicate core, then Enceladus cannot possess a global subsurface ocean, because the core must be coupled to the overlying ice for reorientation to occur. The reorientation generates large (approximately 10 MPa) tectonic stress patterns that are compatible with the observed deformation of the south polar region. We predict that the distribution of impact craters on the surface will not show the usual leading hemisphere-trailing hemisphere asymmetry. A low-density diapir also yields a potentially observable negative gravity anomaly.

The surface of Mars is cut by long linear faults with displacements of metres to kilometres, most of which are thought to have been formed by extension. The surface has also been modified by enormous floods, probably of water, which often flowed out of valleys formed by the largest of these faults. By analogy with structures on Earth, we propose here that the faults are in fact the surface expression of dykes, and not of large-scale tectonic movements. We use a numerical model to show that the intrusion of large dykes can generate structures like Valles Marineris. Such dykes can provide a heat source to melt ground ice, and so provide a source of water for the floods that have been inferred to originate in some of the large valleys.