Age and composition of young basalts on the Moon, measured from samples returned by Chang'e-5

Xiaochao Che; Alexander Nemchin; Dunyi Liu; Tao Long; Chen Wang; Marc D. Norman; Katherine H. Joy; Romain Tartese; James Head; Bradley Jolliff; Joshua F. Snape; Clive R. Neal; Martin J. Whitehouse; Carolyn Crow; Gretchen Benedix; Fred Jourdan; Zhiqing Yang; Chun Yang; Jianhui Liu; Shiwen Xie; Zemin Bao; Runlong Fan; Dapeng Li; Zengsheng Li; Stuart G. Webb

doi:10.1126/science.abl7957

Age and composition of young basalts on the Moon, measured from samples returned by Chang'e-5

Xiaochao Che, Alexander Nemchin^*, Dunyi Liu^*, Tao Long, Chen Wang, Marc D. Norman, Katherine H. Joy, Romain Tartese, James Head, Bradley Jolliff, Joshua F. Snape, Clive R. Neal, Martin J. Whitehouse, Carolyn Crow, Gretchen Benedix, Fred Jourdan, Zhiqing Yang, Chun Yang, Jianhui Liu, Shiwen XieZemin Bao, Runlong Fan, Dapeng Li, Zengsheng Li, Stuart G. Webb

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

241 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Orbital data indicate that the youngest volcanic units on the Moon are basalt lavas in Oceanus Procellarum, a region with high levels of the heat-producing elements potassium, thorium, and uranium. The Chang'e-5 mission collected samples of these young lunar basalts and returned them to Earth for laboratory analysis. We measure an age of 1963 ± 57 million years for these lavas and determine their chemical and mineralogical compositions. This age constrains the lunar impact chronology of the inner Solar System and the thermal evolution of the Moon. There is no evidence for high concentrations of heat-producing elements in the deep mantle of the Moon that generated these lavas, so alternate explanations are required for the longevity of lunar magmatism.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	887-890
Number of pages	4
Journal	Science
Volume	374
Issue number	6569
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1126/science.abl7957
Publication status	Published - 12 Nov 2021

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Che, X., Nemchin, A., Liu, D., Long, T., Wang, C., Norman, M. D., Joy, K. H., Tartese, R., Head, J., Jolliff, B., Snape, J. F., Neal, C. R., Whitehouse, M. J., Crow, C., Benedix, G., Jourdan, F., Yang, Z., Yang, C., Liu, J., ... Webb, S. G. (2021). Age and composition of young basalts on the Moon, measured from samples returned by Chang'e-5. Science, 374(6569), 887-890. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.abl7957

@article{ef846621951e442fb398a06bee65fe7c,

title = "Age and composition of young basalts on the Moon, measured from samples returned by Chang'e-5",

abstract = "Orbital data indicate that the youngest volcanic units on the Moon are basalt lavas in Oceanus Procellarum, a region with high levels of the heat-producing elements potassium, thorium, and uranium. The Chang'e-5 mission collected samples of these young lunar basalts and returned them to Earth for laboratory analysis. We measure an age of 1963 ± 57 million years for these lavas and determine their chemical and mineralogical compositions. This age constrains the lunar impact chronology of the inner Solar System and the thermal evolution of the Moon. There is no evidence for high concentrations of heat-producing elements in the deep mantle of the Moon that generated these lavas, so alternate explanations are required for the longevity of lunar magmatism.",

author = "Xiaochao Che and Alexander Nemchin and Dunyi Liu and Tao Long and Chen Wang and Norman, {Marc D.} and Joy, {Katherine H.} and Romain Tartese and James Head and Bradley Jolliff and Snape, {Joshua F.} and Neal, {Clive R.} and Whitehouse, {Martin J.} and Carolyn Crow and Gretchen Benedix and Fred Jourdan and Zhiqing Yang and Chun Yang and Jianhui Liu and Shiwen Xie and Zemin Bao and Runlong Fan and Dapeng Li and Zengsheng Li and Webb, {Stuart G.}",

note = "Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2021 The Authors, some rights reserved; exclusive licensee American Association for the Advancement of Science. No claim to original U.S. Government Works",

year = "2021",

month = nov,

day = "12",

doi = "10.1126/science.abl7957",

language = "English",

volume = "374",

pages = "887--890",

journal = "Science",

issn = "0036-8075",

publisher = "American Association for the Advancement of Science",

number = "6569",

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Che, X, Nemchin, A, Liu, D, Long, T, Wang, C, Norman, MD, Joy, KH, Tartese, R, Head, J, Jolliff, B, Snape, JF, Neal, CR, Whitehouse, MJ, Crow, C, Benedix, G, Jourdan, F, Yang, Z, Yang, C, Liu, J, Xie, S, Bao, Z, Fan, R, Li, D, Li, Z & Webb, SG 2021, 'Age and composition of young basalts on the Moon, measured from samples returned by Chang'e-5', Science, vol. 374, no. 6569, pp. 887-890. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.abl7957

TY - JOUR

T1 - Age and composition of young basalts on the Moon, measured from samples returned by Chang'e-5

AU - Che, Xiaochao

AU - Nemchin, Alexander

AU - Liu, Dunyi

AU - Long, Tao

AU - Wang, Chen

AU - Norman, Marc D.

AU - Joy, Katherine H.

AU - Tartese, Romain

AU - Head, James

AU - Jolliff, Bradley

AU - Snape, Joshua F.

AU - Neal, Clive R.

AU - Whitehouse, Martin J.

AU - Crow, Carolyn

AU - Benedix, Gretchen

AU - Jourdan, Fred

AU - Yang, Zhiqing

AU - Yang, Chun

AU - Liu, Jianhui

AU - Xie, Shiwen

AU - Bao, Zemin

AU - Fan, Runlong

AU - Li, Dapeng

AU - Li, Zengsheng

AU - Webb, Stuart G.

PY - 2021/11/12

Y1 - 2021/11/12

N2 - Orbital data indicate that the youngest volcanic units on the Moon are basalt lavas in Oceanus Procellarum, a region with high levels of the heat-producing elements potassium, thorium, and uranium. The Chang'e-5 mission collected samples of these young lunar basalts and returned them to Earth for laboratory analysis. We measure an age of 1963 ± 57 million years for these lavas and determine their chemical and mineralogical compositions. This age constrains the lunar impact chronology of the inner Solar System and the thermal evolution of the Moon. There is no evidence for high concentrations of heat-producing elements in the deep mantle of the Moon that generated these lavas, so alternate explanations are required for the longevity of lunar magmatism.

AB - Orbital data indicate that the youngest volcanic units on the Moon are basalt lavas in Oceanus Procellarum, a region with high levels of the heat-producing elements potassium, thorium, and uranium. The Chang'e-5 mission collected samples of these young lunar basalts and returned them to Earth for laboratory analysis. We measure an age of 1963 ± 57 million years for these lavas and determine their chemical and mineralogical compositions. This age constrains the lunar impact chronology of the inner Solar System and the thermal evolution of the Moon. There is no evidence for high concentrations of heat-producing elements in the deep mantle of the Moon that generated these lavas, so alternate explanations are required for the longevity of lunar magmatism.

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85116913048&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1126/science.abl7957

DO - 10.1126/science.abl7957

M3 - Article

SN - 0036-8075

VL - 374

SP - 887

EP - 890

JO - Science

JF - Science

IS - 6569

ER -

Age and composition of young basalts on the Moon, measured from samples returned by Chang'e-5

Abstract

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