Lunar primitive mantle olivine returned by Chang’e-6

The lunar mantle is important for unraveling the Moon's formation and early differentiation processes. Here, we identify primitive lunar olivines in soils returned by the Chang'e-6 mission. These olivines have oxygen isotopic compositions plotting along the terrestrial fractionation line, and are characterized by high forsterite contents up to 95.6, and a broad range of nickel abundances from zero to 682 ppm. While the low-nickel (zero to 251 ppm), forsteritic olivines align with a Mg-suite origin, the most primitive, high-nickel olivines (337 to 682 ppm) have a different origin. They could be either the first olivine crystallized from the Lunar Magma Ocean (LMO) with an Earth-like initial composition, or crystallized from a hitherto unrecognized ultra-magnesian lava produced by extensive melting of the early LMO cumulate. The exposure of these mantle olivines was facilitated by their entrainment in ascending high-Mg lavas and conveyed to the surface at the South Pole-Aitken Basin.

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Publication Details

Journal
Nature Communications
Published
2025-04-23
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-58820-4
Citations
6
Primary Topic
Planetary Science and Exploration
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
6.93

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article

Lunar primitive mantle olivine returned by Chang’e-6

Zhenyu Chen, Shitou Wu, Qiuli Li, Jian‐Ming Zhu et al.
6 citations
Nature Communications
Planetary Science and Exploration
6.93
article

Lunar primitive mantle olivine returned by Chang’e-6

Zhenyu Chen, Shitou Wu, Qiuli Li, Jian‐Ming Zhu, Si‐Zhang Sheng, Jianfei Hua, Shui‐Jiong Wang, Bo Zhang, Hao Wang, Yongsheng He, J. L. Hao
article en
6 citations

Abstract

The lunar mantle is important for unraveling the Moon's formation and early differentiation processes. Here, we identify primitive lunar olivines in soils returned by the Chang'e-6 mission. These olivines have oxygen isotopic compositions plotting along the terrestrial fractionation line, and are characterized by high forsterite contents up to 95.6, and a broad range of nickel abundances from zero to 682 ppm. While the low-nickel (zero to 251 ppm), forsteritic olivines align with a Mg-suite origin, the most primitive, high-nickel olivines (337 to 682 ppm) have a different origin. They could be either the first olivine crystallized from the Lunar Magma Ocean (LMO) with an Earth-like initial composition, or crystallized from a hitherto unrecognized ultra-magnesian lava produced by extensive melting of the early LMO cumulate. The exposure of these mantle olivines was facilitated by their entrainment in ascending high-Mg lavas and conveyed to the surface at the South Pole-Aitken Basin.

Nature CommunicationsVol. 16(1)
Chinese Academy of Sciences (CN), Peking University (CN), Chinese Academy of Geological Sciences (CN), China University of Geosciences (Beijing) (CN), Institute of Geology and Geophysics (CN)
China National Space Administration, National Natural Science Foundation of China, Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities
Life below water
Openalex Percentile: Top 3%
Planetary Science and Exploration
6.93
DOIOpen Access PDFOpenAlex
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