Zhao, Siyuan, Xiao, Long, Qian, Yuqi, Zhao, Jiawei, She, Zhenbing, He, Qi, Wang, Zaicong, Wang, Xinyi, Cao, Kenan, Zeng, Xiangbin, Wang, Yixuan, Sun, Jiahuai, Dong, Mingtan, Xiao, Qian, Yin, Zongjun, Yang, Hao, Zhao, Jiannan, Wang, Jiang, Huang, Jun, and Hu, Zhaochu
The lunar regolith layer preserves abundant information on the internal properties of the Moon as well as the space-surface interactions. By gardening and overturning through time, the regolith layer is heterogenous and soils from different depths could record the complex evolution history of the Moon. Chang'e-5 (CE-5) successfully returned scooped samples and drilled samples from the northeastern Oceanus Procellarum of the Moon. In this study, one scooped sample (0–3 cm depth, S0) and two drilled samples (~10 cm depth, S10; and ~ 65 cm depth, S65) were employed to analyze their granulometry and mineralogy by micro Raman spectroscopy. The grain size increases with depth, and the median grain size of S0, S10, and S65 are Φ5.45 (30.2 μm), Φ4.47 (45.0 μm), and Φ3.37 (96.4 μm), respectively. Their mineral types and contents are pyroxene (33.4–40.5 vol%), plagioclase (30.4–33.8 vol%), olivine (9.0–13.1 vol%), glass (6.9–10.7 vol%), Fe Ti oxide (6.7–7.5 vol%), cristobalite (0.2–3.8 vol%), quartz (0.4–0.9 vol%), and phosphate (0.2–0.6 vol%). The size-dependent mineral modes reveal the relationship between grain size and mineralogy. The mineral modal abundances of 3 soil samples at different depths are roughly similar to that of CE-5 basalts. Raman peak position of quartz may record a peak shock pressure of 31.4 GPa. 5–9 vol% plagioclase amorphization reflects that at least 2–9% exogenous materials in CE-5 soil samples are ejected from craters with diameters larger than 3 km located beyond 50 km from the landing site. • Granulometry and mineralogy of CE-5 soil samples from three different depths were analyzed by micro-laser Raman spectroscopy. • The grain size distribution of CE-5 lunar soil exhibits an increasing trend with depth. • The mineral constituents of the soil samples are consistent throughout various depths. • Highly shocked materials were observed, including shocked quartz, quartz glass, and plagioclase glass. • Exogenous materials account for >2–9% of the CE-5 samples. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]