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Abstract The redox state of a planetary mantle affects its thermal evolution. The redox evolution of lunar mantle, however, remains unclear due to limited oxygen fugacity (fO2) constraints from young lunar samples. Here, we report vanadium (V) oxybarometers on olivine and spinel conducted on 27 Chang’e-5 basalt fragments from 2.0 billion years ago. These fragments yield an average fO2 of ΔIW -0.84 ± 0.65 (2σ), which closely aligns with the Apollo samples from 3.6–3.0 billion years ago. This temporal uniformity indicates the lunar mantle remained reduced. This observation reveals that the processes responsible for oxidizing mantles of Earth and Mars either did not occur or had negligible oxidizing effects on the Moon. The long-term reduced mantle may lead to a distinctive volatile degassing pathway for the Moon. It could also make the lunar mantle more difficult to melt, preventing internal heat dissipation and consequently resulting in a slow cooling rate.

Summary: Research on returned samples can provide ground truth for the study of the geological evolution history of the Moon. However, previous missions all collected samples from the near side of the Moon, which is significantly different from the far side of the Moon in terms of the thickness of the lunar crust, magma activity, and composition. Therefore, the samples from the far side of the Moon are of great significance for a comprehensive understanding of the history of the Moon. China’s Chang’e-6 (CE-6) probe has successfully landed on the lunar far side and will return samples in the coming days. With the precise location of the CE-6 landing site, a detailed analysis of the geological background is conducted in this research. The landing site of CE-6 is within the Apollo crater, which is inside the largest impact basin on the Moon, i.e., the South Pole-Aitken (SPA) basin. According to the numerical simulation of the formation process of the SPA basin, CE-6 landed at the edge of the SPA impact melting zone, which is presumably composed of impact melt of the lunar mantle. The Apollo crater subsequently excavated deep material again, which constitutes the basement of the CE-6 landing area. Later, erupted basalt covered these basement rocks, and they also constitute the main source of the CE-6 samples. Based on the dating method of crater size-frequency distribution, we find that the basalt is ∼2.50 Ga. The CE-6 samples also possibly contain basement rocks as excavated and ejected by craters, and they can provide crucial information for our understanding of lunar geological history along with the basalt samples.

Abstract Knowledge regarding the abundance and distribution of solar wind (SW)‐sourced water (OH/H2O) on the Moon in the shallow subsurface remains limited. Here, we report the NanoSIMS measurements of H abundances and D/H ratios on soil grains from three deepest sections of the Chang'E‐5 drill core sampled at depths of 0.45–0.8 m. High water contents of 0.13–1.3 wt.% are present on approximately half of the grain surfaces (topmost ∼100 nm), comparable to the values of Chang'E‐5 scooped soils. The extremely low δD values (as low as −995‰) and negative correlations between δD and water contents indicate that SW implantation is an important source of water beneath the lunar surface. The results are indicative of homogeneous distribution of SW‐derived water in the vertical direction, providing compelling evidence for the well‐mixed nature of the lunar regolith. Moreover, the findings demonstrate that the shallow subsurface regolith of the Moon contains a considerable amount of water.

Abstract The lunar surface and interior are highly reducing, resulting in the virtually absence of ferric ion. However, recent studies suggest the presence of ferric iron in lunar samples, and in most cases they were found in amorphous silicates (e.g., glass beads) measured by TEM–EELS. In this work, we conducted a systematic TEM–EELS analysis on the iron valence states of Chang’e-5 impact glass beads. The Fe3+/ΣFe ratio of each silicate glass sample was determined from integral intensity of Fe L3 and L2 edge. The measurements show a positive correlation between the dwell time and Fe3+/ΣFe ratio, which reveals that ferric iron can be significantly produced by electron beam bombardment under routine analytical condition. The calculated Fe3+/ΣFe with short dwell times (≤ 20 ms) in our Chang’e-5 impact glass beads show no detectable inherent ferric iron, suggesting that the ferric iron is not ubiquitous as previously reported. It is obvious that a careful control of experiment conditions is critical to determine the inherent redox state of other beam-sensitive terrestrial and extraterrestrial samples. Graphical Abstract

Abstract The history of mare volcanism critically informs the thermal evolution of the Moon. However, young volcanic eruptions are poorly constrained by remote observations and limited samples, hindering an understanding of mare eruption flux over time. The Chang’e-5 mission returned the youngest lunar basalts thus far, offering a window into the Moon’s late-stage evolution. Here, we investigate the mineralogy and geochemistry of 42 olivine and pyroxene crystals from the Chang’e-5 basalts. We find that almost all of them are normally zoned, suggesting limited magma recharge or shallow-level assimilation. Most olivine grains record a short timescale of cooling. Thermal modeling used to estimate the thickness and volume of the volcanism sampled by Chang’e-5 reveals enhanced magmatic flux ~2 billion years ago, suggesting that while overall lunar volcanic activity may decrease over time, episodic eruptions at the final stage could exhibit above average eruptive fluxes, thus revising models of lunar thermal evolution.

The crust of the Moon records the complete history of collisions by different-sized projectiles from various sources since its early solidification. Planetary bodies in the inner Solar System experienced similar sources of impactors, and the Moon is an ideal witness plate for the impact history. Impact flux on the Moon connects planetary endogenic evolution with orbital dynamics of celestial bodies, and the resulting crater chronology enables remote age estimation for geological units on extraterrestrial bodies. Therefore, defining the lunar impact history has long been a core pursuit in planetary sciences. Ubiquitous impact structures on the Moon and their widespread impact melt deposits are the major agents used to untangle lunar crater chronology. Anchored by 10 successful sample return missions from the Moon, cumulative crater densities were derived for 15 geological units based on their interpreted exposure ages (~3.92 Ga to 25 Ma) and superposed crater densities. Afterword, crater production rates in the entire history of the Moon were constructed on the basis of hypothesized change patterns of impact flux. Following this commonly adapted strategy, it has been a consensus that impact flux in the first billion years of the lunar history was orders of magnitude larger than that afterward, and the latter was not only more or less stable but also punctuated by discrete spikes. However, different versions of lunar crater chronology exist because of insufficient constraints by available anchor points and widespread disagreements on both sample ages and crater densities of existing anchor points. Endeavors from various disciplines (e.g., sample analyses, remote observation, and modeling crater formation and accumulation) are making promising progresses, and future sample return missions with both optimized sampling strategy and analyzing techniques are appealed to fundamentally improve the understanding of lunar impact flux.

Upper: Giant impact (Courtesy NASA/JPL-Caltech); chondrule, majorite in shocked enstatite (Courtesy Miyahara); Lower: Collision of planetesimals (Courtesy NASA/JPL-Caltech); Raman mapping of wadsleyite and ringwoodite in Peace River L6 (Courtesy Miyahara and El Goresy).

Abstract Enstatite chondrites are a small clan of meteorites, only ~ 1% out of all meteorite collection. However, they are the most reduced meteorites and have almost identical isotopic compositions to those of the Earth, suggestive of significant contributions to the latter and other terrestrial planets. Enstatite chondrites contain a unique mineral inventory of sulfides of typical lithophile elements, Si-bearing metal, silicide and phosphide, which record the nebular processes and the thermal metamorphism in asteroidal bodies under extremely reducing environments. EH group is mainly characteristic of the higher Si content of metallic Fe–Ni and the higher MnS contents of sulfides than EL group, indicative of a more reducing condition than the latter. However, the fugacity pH2S could be the same in both EH and EL regions, because it was buffered by kamacite and troilite. The majority of sulfides condensed from the nebula, partially enclosing schreibersite micron-spherules formed probably by early melting. Another part of troilite, sphalerite and djerfisherite, intergrown with perryite, were produced via sulfidation of metallic Fe–Ni. Minor exotic components were also found in enstatite chondrites, including Ca-, Al-rich inclusions and FeO-rich silicate clasts. The Ca-, Al-rich inclusions are identical to those in carbonaceous chondrites except for the alteration under reducing environments, and the FeO-rich silicate clasts show reduction reactions, both suggestive of migration of dust in the protoplanetary disk. The highly reducing conditions (as C/O ratios) might be established via repeating evaporation and condensation of water ice and organic matter across the snow line along the protoplanetary disk, but need to find evidence. Another issue is the preservation of submicron-to-micron-sized presolar grains during high-temperature condensation of the major constituent minerals. After accretion, the parent bodies of EH and EL chondrites probably experienced distinct thermal histories, indicated by their distinct petrologic-type distributions and different correlations with the closure temperatures determined by the FeS contents of sulfides in contact with troilite. The composition of (Mg, Mn, Fe)S, a key indicator for condensation and metamorphism of enstatite chondrites.

Impact craters are one of the most important landforms on the lunar surface, playing a crucial role in the formation and later evolution of the Moon. For example, as a primary source of remote sensing observations and lunar samples, lunar regolith is predominantly composed of impact ejecta. Based on their morphologies, lunar impact craters with increasing sizes can be classified into simple craters, complex craters, and multiring basins, and they play different roles in lunar evolution. In our study, we conducted numerical simulations of the South Pole-Aitken basin and the Orientale basin on the lunar surface, as well as the Aristarchus complex crater and the Zhinyu simple crater. The resultant effects of them are further analyzed. Because Zhinyu crater is relatively close to the Chang’e-4 landing site, while Aristarchus crater is relatively close to the Chang’e-5 landing site, their simulation results have direct significance for interpreting the corresponding exploration data from both missions. The numerical simulation results demonstrate that the formation of large basins not only affects the subsurface structure within the basin but also significantly disturbs the surrounding geological layers. Complex and simple craters mainly disturb the subsurface layers within the crater, but complex craters can cause uplift of the underlying strata. These impact processes dominate the primary geological framework of the lunar surface, depositing ejecta materials of varying thicknesses from different depths, which has important implications for future sample collection missions. In conclusion, impact processes are one of the primary driving forces in the lunar evolution.

Key questions on solar wind–Moon interaction are reviewed. As the nearest celestial body to Earth, Moon’s space environment is distinctive to Earth’s mainly because of lack of a significant atmosphere/ionosphere and a global magnetic field. From a global respective, solar wind can bombard its surface, and the solar wind materials cumulated in the soil record the evolution of the Solar System. Many small-scale remanent magnetic fields are scattered over the lunar surface and, just as planetary magnetic fields protect planets, they are believed to divert the incident solar wind and shield the local lunar surface beneath, thus producing unique local surface environment that is critical to activities of human beings/facilities, thus providing unique landing sites to explore the origins of lunar swirls and remanent magnetic fields. Evidences have hinted that this local interaction, however, may be also distinct with the interacting scenario on planets, and the specific process has not been revealed because of lack of in situ observations in the near-Moon space or on the ground. The global and local solar wind interactions of the Moon represent 2 types of characteristic interaction of celestial bodies with stellar wind in deep space, i.e., the interactions of nonmagnetized bodies and of small-scale magnetized bodies, both of which may occur on asteroids and Mars. The deep-space celestial bodies, either difficult or impossible to reach for human beings or artificial satellites, are hard to measure, and the exploration of the Moon can reveal the mystery of stellar wind interaction on these bodies.

Abstract Zirconolite is a common Zr-rich accessary mineral in mafic rocks. It is also an ideal U–Pb/Pb–Pb chronometer because it commonly contains high U content (mostly 0.1–10 wt%) and negligible initial Pb. However, zirconolite is usually very small (e.g., ~ 1 μm in width) in lunar rocks, requiring a high spatial resolution analysis. We analyzed a single, large (25 μm × 20 μm) grain of zirconolite in lunar meteorite NWA 4485 using Pb–Pb dating by NanoSIMS and U–Th–Pb dating by EPMA. The resultant U–Th–Pb age is 4540 ± 340 Ma (2σ) with a spatial resolution of 1.3 μm. The Pb–Pb age by NanoSIMS is 4348.5 ± 4.8 Ma (2σ) with a spatial resolution of ~ 2 μm, consistent with the age of 4352 ± 10 Ma and 4344 ± 14 Ma reported in the same meteorite and its paired meteorite NWA 4472. Although U–Th–Pb age is somewhat older, it still includes the NanoSIMS results within the analytical uncertainty. This work demonstrates the potential application of the combined EPMA dating and REE analysis of lunar zirconolite, with the benefits of high spatial resolution, non-destructive, and readily accessibility of the instrument. The precision of the EPMA dating (7.6%, 2σ) can be improved by increasing the counting time for Pb, U and Th. We expect to apply this EPMA technique for a quick and non-destructive age survey and geochemical study of zirconolite grains from the lunar mare basalts newly returned by Chang’E-5 mission which landed on a very young (1.2–2.0 Ga by crater-counting chronology) basalt unit in Procellarum KREEP Terrain.

Abstract Ringwoodite and wadsleyite are the high-pressure polymorphs of olivine, which are common in shocked meteorites. They are the major constituent minerals in the terrestrial mantle. NWA 8705, an olivine-phyric shergottite, was heavily shocked, producing shock-induced melt veins and pockets associated with four occurrences of ringwoodite: (1) the lamellae intergrown with the host olivine adjacent to a shock-induced melt pocket; (2) polycrystalline assemblages preserving the shapes and compositions of the pre-existing olivine within a shock-induced melt vein (60 μm in width); (3) the rod-like grains coexisting with wadsleyite and clinopyroxene within a shock-induced melt vein; (4) the microlite clusters embedded in silicate glass within a very thin shock-induced melt vein (20 μm in width). The first two occurrences of ringwoodite likely formed via solid-state transformation from olivine, supported by their morphological features and homogeneous compositions (Mg# 64–62) similar to the host olivine (Mg# 66–64). The third occurrence of ringwoodite might fractionally crystallize from the shock-induced melt, based on its heterogeneous and more FeO-enriched compositions (Mg# 76–51) than those of the coexisting wadsleyite (Mg# 77–67) and the host olivine (Mg# 66–64) of this meteorite. The coexistence of ringwoodite, wadsleyite, and clinopyroxene suggests a post-shock pressure of 14–16 GPa and a temperature of 1650–1750 °C. The fourth occurrence of ringwoodite with compositional variation (Mg# 72–58) likely crystallized from melt at 16–18 GPa and 1750–1850 °C. The presence of the four occurrences of ringwoodite was probably due to their very fast cooling rates in and/or adjacent to the thin shock-induced melt veins and small pockets. In addition, the higher Fa-contents of the host olivine (Fa35–39) in NWA 8705 than those in ordinary chondrites (Fa16–32) makes the olivine–ringwoodite transformation prolong to a lower pressure.

This paper presents a review of the scientific research progress of the lunar in-situ spectroscopy and radar, focusing on the important results obtained by the Chang'E-3 and Chang'E-4 missions. In terms of the spectral detection, we report the composition, the photometric characteristics, space weathering information and thermal radiation characteristics of the lunar surface. In terms of radar detection, the detection of geological subsurface structures of the Moon, the detection of possible cavities/lava-tubes, and the inversion of the dielectric properties of the lunar regolith are described. Finally, the future development trends of lunar in-situ spectroscopy and radar detection are discussed.

The lunar crater production function describes the general pattern of the size–frequency distribution of craters on the lunar surface, and it is the foundation of the surface dating method via crater counting. In addition, the lunar crater production function has been extended to other celestial bodies and used to analyze the meteorite flux of the inner solar system. The basic process of establishing the lunar crater production function is to map in an ideal way the primary craters in different geological units, and then to normalize all of the corresponding size–frequency distributions using a mathematical model. Currently, the most widely used lunar crater production functions have been established based on the images acquired in the last century. However, now they can be refined with newly obtained high-resolution images. In this research, we mapped all of the primary craters in 13 regions on the lunar surface with the images acquired using the narrow angle camera and wide angle camera onboard the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, and then we fitted the lunar crater production function with a polynomial. The resultant new lunar crater production function is largely comparable with the previous results, and the difference is mainly at the large diameter end. We analyzed the uncertainty of model fitting as well as the difference in the crater measurements and demonstrated the reliability of the new production function. It is expected to refine the lunar surface dating models, which can provide more accurate information on the impact rate in related studies.

A visible and near-infrared imaging spectrometer (VNIS) loaded by the Chang’e-4 rover is the primary method for detecting the mineral composition of the lunar surface in the landing region. However, different data processing methods yield inconsistent mineral modes in measured lunar soil and rocks. To better constrain the mineral modes of the soil and rocks measured by Chang’e-4 VNIS, a noritic-gabbroic rock with a mineral composition similar to that of the lunar highland rocks is measured by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), the spare flight model of Chang’e-4 VNIS and TerraSpec-4 of ASD. Backscattered electron and energy dispersive spectrometry show that olivine, pyroxene, and plagioclase modal mineral abundances are 12.9, 35.0, and 52.2%, respectively. The estimated results of the spectrum by the Hapke radiative transfer model are 7.5, 39.3, and 53.2% for olivine, pyroxene, and plagioclase, respectively, which is consistent with to those of SEM mapping within error. In contrast, the estimated results of the modified Gaussian model are 29 and 71% for olivine and pyroxene, respectively, indicating the absence of plagioclase. Based on our implemented Hapke model, we decode the data of the two rocks detected by the rover on the 3rd and 26th lunar days of mission operations. The obtained results suggest that both rocks are norite or gabbro with noticeable differences. The first rock, with more olivine and pyroxene, may have been excavated from the Finsen crater. The second rock, with more plagioclase, may have been ejected from the southwestern edge of the Von Kármán crater, indicating the initial lunar crust.

Abstract The temporal duration of lunar‐evolved magmatism is still poorly constrained. In lunar meteorite Northwest Africa (NWA) 10049, a melt inclusion‐bearing zircon fragment provides a new tool to understand the composition and age of the melts from which zircon directly crystallized. The studied zircon‐hosted melt inclusions are silica rich and iron poor (e.g., ~80–90 wt% SiO2;

Abstract There are growing demands for integrated study of isotopes, trace elements and crystallography of micron-sized grains observed on polished sections or scattered on surface of sample holders. However, transmission electron microscopy (TEM) observation is largely restricted by the challenges associated with the preparation of ultrathin sections from given micron-sized grains after chemical and isotopic analyses. Here, we report a new method of combining focused ion beam (FIB) and microtome techniques. This method is demonstrated by the successful preparation of several ultrathin slices from a presolar graphite grain. The presolar graphite grain was a spherule with a diameter of 5 μm. It was found by nanoscale secondary ion mass spectrometry (NanoSIMS) mapping of a carbonaceous acid residue from the Qingzhen enstatite chondrite (EH3), deposited on a gold foil mount. The spherule showed isotope anomalies in C and Si, with 12C/13C = 99 ± 2 and δ29Si/28Si = 172 ± 36‰, and likely originated in an asymptotic branch giant (AGB) star. After NanoSIMS analysis, this spherule was transported and fixed on a pre-cut top surface of an epoxy stub, using FIB. The fixed spherule was then embedded entirely in resin, and cut into ~ 70 nm slices with a microtome. TEM observation of these ultrathin sections revealed a turbostratic structure free of any subgrains. The morphology, Raman spectrum, C and Si isotopic compositions, internal texture and crystallography of this graphite spherule suggest that it condensed from a carbon-rich outflow of an AGB star.

Most previous studies tend to simplify the lunar regolith as a homogeneous medium. However, the lunar regolith is not completely homogeneous, because there are weak reflections from the lunar regolith layer. In this study, we examined the weak heterogeneity of the lunar regolith layer using a self-organization model by matching the reflection pattern of both the lunar regolith layer and the top of the ejecta layer. After a series of numerical experiments, synthetic results show great consistency with the observed Chang’E-4 lunar penetrating radar data and provide some constraints on the range of controlling parameters of the exponential self-organization model. The root mean square permittivity perturbation is estimated to be about 3% and the correlation distance is about 5–10 cm. Additionally, the upper layer of ejecta has about 1–2 rocks per square meter, and the rock diameter is about 20–30 cm. These parameters are helpful for further study of structural characteristics and the evolution process of the lunar regolith. The relatively small correlation distance and root mean square perturbation in the regolith indicate that the regolith is mature. The weak reflections within the regolith are more likely to be due to structural changes rather than material composition changes.

The Chang’E-4 (CE-4) spacecraft landed successfully on the far side of the Moon on 3 January 2019, and the rover Yutu-2 has explored the lunar surface since then. The visible and near-infrared imaging spectrometer (VNIS) onboard the rover has acquired numerous spectra, providing unprecedented insight into the composition of the lunar surface. However, the noise in these spectral data and its effects on spectral interpretation are not yet assessed. Here we analyzed repeated measurements over the same area at the lunar surface to estimate the signal–noise ratio (SNR) of the VNIS spectra. Using the results, we assessed the effects of noise on the estimation of band centers, band depths, FeO content, optical maturity (OMAT), mineral abundances, and submicroscopic metallic iron (SMFe). The data observed at solar altitudes