Returned samples indicate volcanism on the Moon 120 million years ago
There is extensive geologic evidence of ancient volcanic activity on the Moon, but it is unclear how long that volcanism persisted. Magma fountains produce volcanic glasses, which have previously been found in samples of the Moon's surface. We investigated ~3000 glass beads in lunar soil samples collected by the Chang'e-5 mission and identified three as having a volcanic origin on the basis of their textures, chemical compositions, and sulfur isotopes. Uranium-lead dating of the three volcanic glass beads shows that they formed 123 ± 15 million years ago. We measured high abundances of rare earth elements and thorium in these volcanic glass beads, which could indicate that such recent volcanism was related to local enrichment of heat-generating elements in the mantle sources of the magma.
Authors
- B Wang
- Guoqiang Tang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7754-9390)
- Wenhao Zhao (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9271-0821)
- Hejiu Hui (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2707-4977)
- Yuyang He (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6962-9286)
- Bin Su (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3416-2943)
- Qiuli Li (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7280-5508)
- J. W. Delano
- Qian W.L. Zhang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7894-0623)
- Yu Liu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0008-7205-9286)
- Hongxia Ma (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8215-8271)
- Xian‐Hua Li (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5512-7736)
- Yi Chen (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6167-8032)
- Fu‐Yuan Wu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2281-7885)
Institutions
- Albany State University (US)
- Chinese Academy of Sciences (CN)
- University at Albany, State University of New York (US)
- Institute of Geology and Geophysics (CN)
- University of Chinese Academy of Sciences (CN)
- Nanjing University (CN)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Science
- Published
- 2024-09-05
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1126/science.adk6635
- Citations
- 52
- Primary Topic
- Planetary Science and Exploration
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 17.24