近日，加拿大多伦多大学Matthew R. Edwards团队研究了大型低速省上方的爆炸性月球裂变。相关论文发表在2025年11月16日出版的《地球化学学报》杂志上。

关于月球起源的"大碰撞假说"一直难以解释月球岩石与地球硅酸盐地幔和地壳岩石几乎完全一致的同位素组成。这种成分相似性反而更符合达尔文-怀斯假说，即月球是由快速自转的地球通过分裂形成的。为解决分裂模型在结构稳定性和角动量守恒方面的问题，有学者提出若在地核-地幔边界附近借助核爆炸助力，则在自转较慢的地球上实现月球分裂是可行的。

基于这一思路，研究组探讨了大型低速省（LLVPs）可能发挥的作用。这些长期存在的地质构造与多种地球物理过程相关，从深部地幔柱到大陆裂解乃至生物大灭绝事件。虽然LLVPs通常被视为大碰撞体可能的残留物，但研究组提出其中一个LLVP正是月球物质抛射的起源地。他们认为，液态地核的内部加热在核幔边界正下方形成了赤道带，这与Ma和Tkal?i?最新探测到的结构类似。来自该赤道带的热量和挥发物质上涌，形成了两个对跖的赤道隆起：即太平洋和非洲LLVPs的前身。

在板块构造出现之前，地核热量主要通过延伸至原始LLVPs上方的深部地幔柱网络进行耗散。这些地幔柱网络代表了地幔薄弱带，后期月球原始物质通过这些通道集中抛射而出。地核持续积聚的热量最终在太平洋原始LLVP区域引发了灾难性爆炸，其规模可能堪比行星级金伯利岩喷发。这次爆炸将LLVP及上覆地幔物质抛入近地轨道，最终凝聚形成月球。研究组还探讨了可能为这次爆炸提供额外能量的几种来源，包括核裂变、陨石撞击，以及一种以"Λ事件"为终点的假想引力衰变过程。

附：英文原文

Title: Explosive lunar fission above a large low-velocity province

Author: Edwards, Matthew R.

Issue&Volume: 2025-11-16

Abstract: The giant impact hypothesis for the Moon’s origin has had difficulty explaining the nearly identical isotopic compositions of Moon rocks and rocks from Earth’s silicate mantle and crust. These similarities are instead more compatible with the Darwin-Wise hypothesis that the Moon arose by fission of a rapidly spinning Earth. To overcome problems with the fission model concerning structural stability and angular momentum conservation, some authors suggested that lunar fission was feasible on a more slowly rotating Earth if assisted by a nuclear explosion near the core-mantle boundary. In this light we consider the possible roles of the large low-velocity provinces (LLVPs). These long-lived structures have been implicated in diverse geophysical processes ranging from deep mantle plumes to continental breakup and mass extinction events. While the LLVPs have been seen as possible remnants of the giant impactor, we propose that one of them was the site of lunar ejection. Internal heating of the liquid core is suggested to have given rise to an equatorial belt just under the core-mantle boundary analogous to the one recently detected by Ma and Tkali [Sci Adv 10(35):eadn5562, 2024]. Upwellings of heat and volatiles from this belt then generated two antipodal, equatorial bulges: the precursors of the Pacific and African LLVPs. Prior to the emergence of plate tectonics, core heat was mainly dissipated by networks of deep mantle plumes extending above the proto-LLVPs. These plume networks represent conduits of weakened mantle through which proto-lunar materials could later rise in a focused ejection. Continuing heat buildup in the core eventually triggered a cataclysmic explosion in the Pacific proto-LLVP, possibly analogous to a planetary-scale kimberlite eruption. This explosion launched LLVP and overlying mantle material into a low Earth orbit, where it coalesced to form the Moon. Some possible sources of additional energy to power the explosion are considered, including nuclear fission, bolide impacts and a hypothetical gravitational decay process culminating in a ‘ event’.

DOI: 10.1007/s11631-025-00834-2

Source: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11631-025-00834-2