Origin of the Moon. New concept. Geochemistry and dynamics / Происхождение Луны. Новая концепция. Геохимия и геодинамика

Sometimes interest in the problem of the Moon’s genesis seems exaggerated. Why does this small celestial body, one of many in the solar system, attract so much attention?

First of all, the Moon genesis is part of the Earth genesis problem. Knowledge of our own planet, understanding of how and when its oceans and atmosphere came into existence, how and when the crust and the core of the Earth were formed, and how life originated on the Earth are not just academic issues; these are profound issues of human self-consciousness. Understanding the Earth’s genesis is impossible without solving simultaneously the Moon genesis problem. The Earth and the Moon form a genetically linked pair. Moreover, a lot of questions relating to the early history of the Earth cannot be answered by studying the Earth alone. Although the age of the Earth is approximately 4.56 billion years, the oldest rocks ever found on Earth are no more than 4 billion years old, i.e., we have no material evidence of the initial 500–600 million years of Earth’s history (except for a few zircon crystals). But the age of some rocks found on the Moon and delivered to Earth is 4:4  4:5 billion years, and even older rocks may be found yet.
The Moon genesis may turn out to be central to the question of how the planets in the solar system have been formed.
In certain respects the Earth and the Moon form a unique pair. Among the inner planets of the solar system only Earth has a large satellite. Mercury and Venus have no satellites. Mars has two small, irregular-shaped satellites, Phobos and Deimos, the larger of which (Phobos) is 22 km longwise, while the Moon’s diameter exceeds 3,500 km.
In relation to its planet, too, the Moon is the largest satellite in the solar system. The size ratio between the Moon and the Earth is 1:81.3. The size ratio between Ganymede, Jupiter’s largest satellite, and Jupiter is 1:12,200. Moreover, the total angular momentum of the Earth-Moon system is many times higher than that of the other terrestrial planets. <...>