Giant impacts trigger crustal recycling as witnessed by sulfur isotopes in lunar basalts
Abstract Crustal recycling, a fundamental process promoting planetary differentiation, is conventionally attributed to plate tectonics on Earth. However, the mechanisms driving this process in tectonically stagnant regimes remain ambiguous. The heavy sulfur isotope (δ 34 S = 2.0–2.4‰) composition of troilites in the newly-discovered 4.2 Ga high-Al basalt from the South Pole–Aitken (SPA) basin indicates the incorporation of surficial degassed 34 S-enriched crustal materials into the mantle. Numerical simulations of the SPA-forming impact and the induced mantle convection show that uplifted molten crustal materials are exposed to vacuum for about one hour, leading to degassing and enrichment of 34 S, then transported to depths greater than 200 km to provide a hybrid mantle source for high-Al basaltic magmatism. Our integrated petrological geochemical numerical study provides the mechanistic validation of impact-driven crustal recycling on the Moon, fundamentally advancing our capacity to decode early crust–mantle evolution in terrestrial bodies within the inner Solar System.
Authors
- Bin Su (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3416-2943)
- Qiuli Li (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7280-5508)
- Qian W.L. Zhang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7894-0623)
- Bangxing Han (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1696-6104)
- Yangting Lin (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3407-4329)
- Huacheng Li (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0008-8948-9944)
- Zongyu Yue (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8073-9264)
- 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)
- Mengxi Yang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7082-2956)
Institutions
- Chinese Academy of Sciences (CN)
- Institute of Geology and Geophysics (AZ)
- Institute of Geology and Geophysics (CN)
- University of Chinese Academy of Sciences (CN)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Communications Earth & Environment
- Published
- 2025-11-28
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1038/s43247-025-03037-y
- Primary Topic
- Planetary Science and Exploration
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00
Funders
- China National Space Administration
- National Natural Science Foundation of China
- Chinese Academy of Sciences
- National Key Research and Development Program of China
- Institute of Geology and Geophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences