Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40408496›Full record

ArticleScience advances2025

Impact plasma amplification of the ancient lunar dynamo.

Isaac S Narrett, Rona Oran, Yuxi Chen, Katarina Miljković, Gábor Tóth, Elias N Mansbach, Benjamin P Weiss

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Science advances, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
2citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

2 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Article
  2. Mercury's crustal magnetization indicates a stronger ancient dynamo.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2026
    Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

7 authors.

Isaac S NarrettDepartment of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA.ORCID 0000-0003-2467-7713
Rona OranDepartment of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA.ORCID 0000-0001-6419-552X
Yuxi ChenDepartment of Climate and Space Sciences and Engineering, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA.ORCID 0000-0001-7288-2805
Katarina MiljkovićSpace Science and Technology Centre, School of Earth and Planetary Science, Curtin University, Perth, WA 6102, Australia.ORCID 0000-0001-8644-8903
Gábor TóthDepartment of Climate and Space Sciences and Engineering, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA.ORCID 0000-0001-8459-2100
Elias N MansbachDepartment of Earth Sciences, Cambridge University, Cambridge, England, UK.ORCID 0000-0003-1132-6682
Benjamin P WeissDepartment of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA.ORCID 0000-0003-3113-3415

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Spacecraft magnetometry and paleomagnetic measurements of lunar samples provide evidence that the Moon had a magnetic field billions of years ago. Because this field was likely stronger than that predicted by scaling laws for core convection dynamos, a longstanding hypothesis is that an ancient dynamo was amplified by plasma from basin-forming impacts. However, there have been no self-consistent models that quantify whether this process can generate the required field intensities. Our impact and magnetohydrodynamic simulations show that for an initial maximum surface field of only 2 microtesla, plasmas created from basin-forming impacts can amplify a planetary dipole field at the basin antipode to ~43 microtesla. This process, coupled with impact-induced body pressure waves focusing at the antipode, could produce magnetization that can account for the crustal fields observed today.

Identifiers

PMID40408496
PMCPMC13109949

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY-NC
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.