article_snippet: An extensive, four-year analysis of data from the spacecraft, computer simulations and laboratory experiments led researchers to the conclusion the tiny grains most likely form when hot water containing dissolved minerals from the moon's rocky interior travels upward, coming into contact with cooler water.
article_snippet: Temperatures required for the interactions that produce the tiny rock grains would be at least 194 degrees Fahrenheit (90 degrees Celsius). '
article_snippet: By process of elimination, the CDA team concluded these particles must be grains of silica, which is found in sand and the mineral quartz on Earth.
article_snippet: On Earth, the most common way to form silica grains of this size is hydrothermal activity under a specific range of conditions; namely, when slightly alkaline and salty water that is super-saturated with silica undergoes a big drop in temperature.
article_snippet: The extremely small size of the silica particles also suggests The extremely small size of the silica particles travel upward relatively quickly from The extremely small size of the silica particles hydrothermal origin to the near-surface sources of the moon's geysers.
article_snippet: The authors agree both scenarios are likely occurring to some degree, but The authors note that the presence of nanosilica grains, as documented by the other paper, favors the hydrothermal scenario. '