Age and composition of the youngest basalts on the Moon returned by the Chang’e-5

Xiaochao Che; Alexander A. Nemchin; Dunyi Liu; Tao Long; Chen Wang; Marc D. Norman; Katherine Joy; Romain Tartese; James Head; Bradley L. Jolliff; Joshua Snape; Clive R. Neal; Martin J.  Whitehouse; Carolyn Crow; Gretchen Benedix; Fred Jourdan; Zhiqing Yang; Chun Yang; Jianhui Liu; Shiwen Xie; Zemin Bao; Runlong Fan; Dapeng Li; Zengsheng Li; Stuart G. Webb

doi:10.1126/science.abl7957

Age and composition of the youngest basalts on the Moon returned by the Chang’e-5

Xiaochao Che, Alexander A. Nemchin, Dunyi Liu, Tao Long, Chen Wang, Marc D. Norman, Katherine Joy, Romain Tartese, James Head, Bradley L. Jolliff, Joshua Snape, Clive R. Neal, Martin J. Whitehouse, Carolyn Crow, Gretchen Benedix, Fred Jourdan, Zhiqing Yang, Chun Yang, Jianhui Liu, Shiwen XieZemin Bao, Runlong Fan, Dapeng Li, Zengsheng Li, Stuart G. Webb

Earth and Environmental Sciences - Academic & Research

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Abstract

Orbital data indicate that the youngest volcanic units on the Moon are basalt lavas in Oceanus Procellarum, a region with high levels of the heat-producing elements potassium, thorium, and uranium. The Chang’e-5 mission collected samples of these young lunar basalts and returned them to Earth for laboratory analysis. We measure an age of 1963 ± 57 Ma for these lavas and determine their chemical and mineralogical compositions. This age constrains the lunar impact chronology of the inner Solar System and the thermal evolution of the Moon. There is no evidence for high concentrations of heat-producing elements in the deep mantle of the Moon that generated these lavas, so alternate explanations are required for the longevity of lunar magmatism.

Original language	English
Journal	Science
Early online date	7 Oct 2021
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1126/science.abl7957
Publication status	Published - 7 Oct 2021

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combined science manuscript 1st October 2021Accepted author manuscript, 6.12 MB

Planetary Science
Gilmour, J. (PI), Joy, K. (PI), Lyon, I. (CoI), Burgess, R. (PI), Jones, R. (PI), Tartese, R. (PI), Holland, G. (PI), Clay, P. (CoI), Crowther, S. (Researcher), Pernet-Fisher, J. (Researcher), Ruzie, L. (Researcher), Assis Fernandes, V. (CoI), MacArthur, J. (Researcher), Nottingham, M. (Researcher), Bell, S. (Researcher), Baker, E. (Researcher), Hartley, M. (PI), Neave, D. (PI), Snape, J. (PI), Almayrac, M. (Researcher), Broadley, M. (PI), Barrett, T. (Researcher) & Neukampf, J. (Researcher)
Project: Research

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Che, X., Nemchin, A. A., Liu, D., Long, T., Wang, C., Norman, M. D., Joy, K., Tartese, R., Head, J., Jolliff, B. L., Snape, J., Neal, C. R., Whitehouse, M. J., Crow, C., Benedix, G., Jourdan, F., Yang, Z., Yang, C., Liu, J., ... Webb, S. G. (2021). Age and composition of the youngest basalts on the Moon returned by the Chang’e-5. Science. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.abl7957

@article{4e942779d6324dba9026489311d07f76,

title = "Age and composition of the youngest basalts on the Moon returned by the Chang{\textquoteright}e-5",

abstract = "Orbital data indicate that the youngest volcanic units on the Moon are basalt lavas in Oceanus Procellarum, a region with high levels of the heat-producing elements potassium, thorium, and uranium. The Chang{\textquoteright}e-5 mission collected samples of these young lunar basalts and returned them to Earth for laboratory analysis. We measure an age of 1963 ± 57 Ma for these lavas and determine their chemical and mineralogical compositions. This age constrains the lunar impact chronology of the inner Solar System and the thermal evolution of the Moon. There is no evidence for high concentrations of heat-producing elements in the deep mantle of the Moon that generated these lavas, so alternate explanations are required for the longevity of lunar magmatism.",

author = "Xiaochao Che and Nemchin, {Alexander A.} and Dunyi Liu and Tao Long and Chen Wang and Norman, {Marc D.} and Katherine Joy and Romain Tartese and James Head and Jolliff, {Bradley L.} and Joshua Snape and Neal, {Clive R.} and Whitehouse, {Martin J.} and Carolyn Crow and Gretchen Benedix and Fred Jourdan and Zhiqing Yang and Chun Yang and Jianhui Liu and Shiwen Xie and Zemin Bao and Runlong Fan and Dapeng Li and Zengsheng Li and Webb, {Stuart G.}",

year = "2021",

month = oct,

day = "7",

doi = "10.1126/science.abl7957",

language = "English",

journal = "Science",

issn = "0036-8075",

publisher = "American Association for the Advancement of Science (A A A S)",

}

Che, X, Nemchin, AA, Liu, D, Long, T, Wang, C, Norman, MD, Joy, K , Tartese, R, Head, J, Jolliff, BL, Snape, J, Neal, CR, Whitehouse, MJ, Crow, C, Benedix, G, Jourdan, F, Yang, Z, Yang, C, Liu, J, Xie, S, Bao, Z, Fan, R, Li, D, Li, Z & Webb, SG 2021, 'Age and composition of the youngest basalts on the Moon returned by the Chang’e-5', Science. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.abl7957

TY - JOUR

T1 - Age and composition of the youngest basalts on the Moon returned by the Chang’e-5

AU - Che, Xiaochao

AU - Nemchin, Alexander A.

AU - Liu, Dunyi

AU - Long, Tao

AU - Wang, Chen

AU - Norman, Marc D.

AU - Joy, Katherine

AU - Tartese, Romain

AU - Head, James

AU - Jolliff, Bradley L.

AU - Snape, Joshua

AU - Neal, Clive R.

AU - Whitehouse, Martin J.

AU - Crow, Carolyn

AU - Benedix, Gretchen

AU - Jourdan, Fred

AU - Yang, Zhiqing

AU - Yang, Chun

AU - Liu, Jianhui

AU - Xie, Shiwen

AU - Bao, Zemin

AU - Fan, Runlong

AU - Li, Dapeng

AU - Li, Zengsheng

AU - Webb, Stuart G.

PY - 2021/10/7

Y1 - 2021/10/7

N2 - Orbital data indicate that the youngest volcanic units on the Moon are basalt lavas in Oceanus Procellarum, a region with high levels of the heat-producing elements potassium, thorium, and uranium. The Chang’e-5 mission collected samples of these young lunar basalts and returned them to Earth for laboratory analysis. We measure an age of 1963 ± 57 Ma for these lavas and determine their chemical and mineralogical compositions. This age constrains the lunar impact chronology of the inner Solar System and the thermal evolution of the Moon. There is no evidence for high concentrations of heat-producing elements in the deep mantle of the Moon that generated these lavas, so alternate explanations are required for the longevity of lunar magmatism.

AB - Orbital data indicate that the youngest volcanic units on the Moon are basalt lavas in Oceanus Procellarum, a region with high levels of the heat-producing elements potassium, thorium, and uranium. The Chang’e-5 mission collected samples of these young lunar basalts and returned them to Earth for laboratory analysis. We measure an age of 1963 ± 57 Ma for these lavas and determine their chemical and mineralogical compositions. This age constrains the lunar impact chronology of the inner Solar System and the thermal evolution of the Moon. There is no evidence for high concentrations of heat-producing elements in the deep mantle of the Moon that generated these lavas, so alternate explanations are required for the longevity of lunar magmatism.

U2 - 10.1126/science.abl7957

DO - 10.1126/science.abl7957

M3 - Article

SN - 0036-8075

JO - Science

JF - Science

ER -

Age and composition of the youngest basalts on the Moon returned by the Chang’e-5

Abstract

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