The source and thermal driver of young (<3.0 Ga) lunar volcanism

The thermal mechanism that drives the prolonged volcanism on the Moon, especially after the major pulse of Imbrian-aged eruptions, remains unknown. Here, we present a petrological and geochemical study of two types of young farside mare basalts, the ~2.8-billion year (Ga) low-Ti and ~2.9-Ga very-low-Ti basalts, collected during the Chang'e-6 mission. The results of our study show that these basalts have pyroxenitic sources and originate from a depth of ~60 to 80 kilometers and ~120 kilometers, respectively. The depth of their source that became progressively shallower over time, combined with thermal modeling results, suggests that magmatic underplating beneath the ilmenite-bearing cumulate (IBC) that escaped the mantle overturn phase could be a thermal driver for the young lunar magmatism. Global remote-sensing investigations further reveal different TiO<sub>2</sub> contents between young basalts from each side of the Moon, attributable to asymmetric composition and thickness of the IBC in the uppermost mantle.

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Publication Details

Journal
Science Advances
Published
2025-08-22
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.adv9085
Citations
6
Primary Topic
Planetary Science and Exploration
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
6.93
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article

The source and thermal driver of young (<3.0 Ga) lunar volcanism

Peng‐Li He, Qing Yang, J. W. Head, Jingyou Chen et al.
6 citations
Science Advances
Planetary Science and Exploration
6.93
article

The source and thermal driver of young (<3.0 Ga) lunar volcanism

Peng‐Li He, Qing Yang, J. W. Head, Jingyou Chen, Zexian Cui, Yuqi Qian, Guanhong Zhu, Yanqiang Zhang, Jintuan Wang, Zhiming Chen, Yi‐Gang Xu, Haiyang Xian, Liang Liu, Le Zhang, Chengyuan Wang, Xianglin Tu, Yonghua Cao
article en
6 citations

Abstract

The thermal mechanism that drives the prolonged volcanism on the Moon, especially after the major pulse of Imbrian-aged eruptions, remains unknown. Here, we present a petrological and geochemical study of two types of young farside mare basalts, the ~2.8-billion year (Ga) low-Ti and ~2.9-Ga very-low-Ti basalts, collected during the Chang'e-6 mission. The results of our study show that these basalts have pyroxenitic sources and originate from a depth of ~60 to 80 kilometers and ~120 kilometers, respectively. The depth of their source that became progressively shallower over time, combined with thermal modeling results, suggests that magmatic underplating beneath the ilmenite-bearing cumulate (IBC) that escaped the mantle overturn phase could be a thermal driver for the young lunar magmatism. Global remote-sensing investigations further reveal different TiO<sub>2</sub> contents between young basalts from each side of the Moon, attributable to asymmetric composition and thickness of the IBC in the uppermost mantle.

Science AdvancesVol. 11(34)
Chinese Academy of Sciences (CN), Brown University (US), Central Institution for Meteorology and Geodynamics (AT), Guangzhou Institute of Geochemistry (CN), University of Chinese Academy of Sciences (CN), University of Hong Kong (HK)
Life below water
Openalex Percentile: Top 3%
Planetary Science and Exploration
6.93
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