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Exotic clasts in Chang’e-5 regolith indicative of unexplored terrane on the Moon

Nature Astronomy volume 7, pages 152–159 (2023)Cite this article

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Abstract

The 2-Gyr-old Chang’e-5 samples are the youngest lunar basaltic regolith returned to Earth and can provide information on the lithological diversity and regolith gardening processes at young mare regions on the Moon over a hitherto unexplored time window. Here we study the lithology and composition of over 3,000 Chang’e-5 regolith particles less than 2 mm in size and identify 7 exotic igneous clasts: a high-Ti vitrophyric fragment, a low-Ti basalt, an olivine-pyroxenite, a magnesian anorthosite, an evolved lithology, a Mg-rich olivine fragment and a pyroclastic glass bead. We associate them with impact-ejected materials from other regions of the Moon, over 50–400 km away from the Chang’e-5 mare unit. In particular, the pyroclastic bead records a volcanic eruption on the Moon with unique chemical composition, suggesting the presence of additional and yet-unrecognized lunar volcanic eruptions. The significantly lower amount of exotic material in the Chang’e-5 samples (~0.2%) with respect to expectations (~10–20%) might indicate that current modelling of impact ejecta needs to be revisited for young lunar geological units.

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Fig. 1: BSE images of exotic igneous clasts (Clast-HT, Clast-LT and Clast-OP) recognized in Chang’e-5 regolith.
Fig. 2: BSE images of exotic igneous clasts (Clast-AN, Clast-EL and Clast-OF) recognized in Chang’e-5 regolith.
Fig. 3: Mineral composition of the exotic igneous clasts in Chang’e-5 regolith.
Fig. 4: Bulk-clast composition of the exotic igneous clasts in Chang’e-5 regolith.
Fig. 5: The regional geological context and origin of the exotic igneous clasts in Chang’e-5 regolith.

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Data availability

The data resulting from this study are provided in the Article and Supporting Information. LROC WAC data and TiO2 abundance (wt%) data were downloaded from the Planetary Data System (https://planetarymaps.usgs.gov/mosaic/Lunar_LRO_LROC-WAC_Mosaic_global_100m_June2013.tif; http://pds.lroc.asu.edu/data/LRO-L-LROC-5-RDR-V1.0/LROLRC_2001/DATA/SDP/WAC_TIO2/).

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Acknowledgements

The Chang'e-5 samples were allocated by the China National Space Administration. We thank Y. Wen and X. Li for their assistances with FIB/SEM and EPMA measurements. We are grateful to L. Maltagliati for the editorial handling of the manuscript and we also thank S. Simon for their helpful comments and suggestions during peer review. X.L. acknowledges financial support from the B-type Strategic Priority Program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (No. XDB41000000), National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 41931077) and Pre-research project on Civil Aerospace Technologies by CNSA (No. D020201). J.L. acknowledges financial support from the B-type Strategic Priority Program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (No. XDB41000000) and National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 41941003). X.Z. gratefully acknowledges support from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No.42103036).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Center for Lunar and Planetary Sciences, Institute of Geochemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guiyang, China

    Xiaojia Zeng, Xiongyao Li & Jianzhong Liu

  2. CAS Center for Excellence in Comparative Planetology, Hefei, China

    Xiongyao Li & Jianzhong Liu

  3. Key Laboratory of Space Manufacturing Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China

    Xiongyao Li & Jianzhong Liu

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  1. Xiaojia Zeng
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Contributions

X.Z. prepared the Chang’e-5 samples, performed the research and prepared the initial manuscript. X.Z., X.L. and J.L. designed the research. All authors participated in the discussion of results, data interpretation and paper editing.

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Correspondence to Xiongyao Li or Jianzhong Liu.

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Nature Astronomy thanks Steve Simon and Noah Petro for their contribution to the peer review of this work.

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Supplementary Information

Supplementary Figs. 1–10, Tables 1–7 and references

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Supplementary Datasets 1–7.

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Zeng, X., Li, X. & Liu, J. Exotic clasts in Chang’e-5 regolith indicative of unexplored terrane on the Moon. Nat Astron 7, 152–159 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41550-022-01840-7

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