Magnetic signatures and origins of ferromagnetic minerals in Chang’e-6 lunar farside soils

Ferromagnetic minerals in lunar materials record key information regarding the Moon's ancient dynamo, impact events, and space weathering. However, interpreting the magnetic signals is complicated by their diverse origins and properties. Here, we present comprehensive magnetic and mineralogical results of farside lunar soils returned by Chang'e-6 mission from the South Pole-Aitken Basin. Compared to nearside samples, these soils exhibit higher magnetic susceptibility and saturation magnetization, and the highest saturation remanence, despite weak local crustal magnetic anomalies. Advanced electron microscopy reveals two primary mineralogical populations: nickel-poor iron particles with euhedral shapes in basalt clasts (magmatic origin) and nickel-rich metallic iron and Fe-Ni alloys in breccias, agglutinates, and glassy materials (impact origin). These findings offer insights into the formation of magnetic minerals on the lunar farside, thereby enhancing our understanding of lunar dynamo evolution and crustal magnetic anomalies.

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Publication Details

Journal
Nature Communications
Published
2025-07-05
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-61705-1
Citations
3
Primary Topic
Geomagnetism and Paleomagnetism Studies
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
2.42

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article

Magnetic signatures and origins of ferromagnetic minerals in Chang’e-6 lunar farside soils

Shuangchi Liu, Shuhui Cai, Z. Cao, Qiuli Li et al.
3 citations
Nature Communications
Geomagnetism and Paleomagnetism Studies
2.42
article

Magnetic signatures and origins of ferromagnetic minerals in Chang’e-6 lunar farside soils

Shuangchi Liu, Shuhui Cai, Z. Cao, Qiuli Li, Lixin Gu, Xu Tang, Zheng Gong, Yongxin Pan, Kelei Zhu, Yuqin Wang, Jinhua Li, Xing Lin, Weiwei Wu, Jiawei Liu, Yi Chen, Yan Liu
article en
3 citations

Abstract

Ferromagnetic minerals in lunar materials record key information regarding the Moon's ancient dynamo, impact events, and space weathering. However, interpreting the magnetic signals is complicated by their diverse origins and properties. Here, we present comprehensive magnetic and mineralogical results of farside lunar soils returned by Chang'e-6 mission from the South Pole-Aitken Basin. Compared to nearside samples, these soils exhibit higher magnetic susceptibility and saturation magnetization, and the highest saturation remanence, despite weak local crustal magnetic anomalies. Advanced electron microscopy reveals two primary mineralogical populations: nickel-poor iron particles with euhedral shapes in basalt clasts (magmatic origin) and nickel-rich metallic iron and Fe-Ni alloys in breccias, agglutinates, and glassy materials (impact origin). These findings offer insights into the formation of magnetic minerals on the lunar farside, thereby enhancing our understanding of lunar dynamo evolution and crustal magnetic anomalies.

Nature CommunicationsVol. 16(1)
Chinese Academy of Sciences (CN), Institute of Geology and Geophysics (AZ), Institute of Geology and Geophysics (CN), University of Chinese Academy of Sciences (CN), Nanjing University (CN)
National Natural Science Foundation of China
Life in Land
Openalex Percentile: Top 11%
Geomagnetism and Paleomagnetism Studies
2.42
DOIOpen Access PDFOpenAlex
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