biostudies-literatureUnknown10(31)Nie NXThe Moon has a tenuous atmosphere produced by space weathering. The short-lived nature of the atoms surrounding the Moon necessitates continuous replenishment from lunar regolith through mechanisms such as micrometeorite impacts, ion sputtering, and photon-stimulated desorption. Despite advances, previous remote sensing and space mission data have not conclusively disentangled the contributions of these processes. Using high-precision potassium (K) and rubidium (Rb) isotopic analyses of lunar soils from the Apollo missions, our study sheds light on the lunar surface-atmosphere evolution over billions of years. The observed correlation between K and Rb isotopic ratios (δ 87Rb = 0.17 δ 41K) indicates that, over long timescales, micrometeorite impact vaporization is the primary source of atomScience advanceseadm7074https://www.ebi.ac.uk/biostudies/studies/S-EPMC11296337biostudies-literatureLunar soil record of atmosphere loss over eons.PMC11296337Nie NXZhang ZJHopp TSarantos MDauphas NfalseLunar soil record of atmosphere loss over eons.The Moon has a tenuous atmosphere produced by space weathering. The short-lived nature of the atoms surrounding the Moon necessitates continuous replenishment from lunar regolith through mechanisms such as micrometeorite impacts, ion sputtering, and photon-stimulated desorption. Despite advances, previous remote sensing and space mission data have not conclusively disentangled the contributions of these processes. Using high-precision potassium (K) and rubidium (Rb) isotopic analyses of lunar soils from the Apollo missions, our study sheds light on the lunar surface-atmosphere evolution over billions of years. The observed correlation between K and Rb isotopic ratios (δ 87Rb = 0.17 δ 41K) indicates that, over long timescales, micrometeorite impact vaporization is the primary source of atom2024-01-01T00:00:00Z2024 Aug2025-04-19T20:46:39.495Z2025-02-19T02:27:45.654ZS-EPMC112963373909397010.1126/sciadv.adm7074