New insights into the geological evolution history of Mare Fecunditatis

IF 2.5 2区物理与天体物理 Q2 ASTRONOMY & ASTROPHYSICS Icarus Pub Date : 2024-10-16 DOI:10.1016/j.icarus.2024.116348

Zongyu Yue , Shujuan Sun , Jun Du , Sheng Gou , Kaichang Di , Yexin Wang , Yangting Lin , Xianhua Li , Fuyuan Wu

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Abstract

The Luna 16 probe returned 101 g of lunar regolith from the northeast of the Mare Fecunditatis in 1970. Studies on these samples were primarily conducted in the 1970s and 1980s, and limited scientific achievements were obtained due to available technology at that time. China received 1.5 g Luna 16 samples in 2023 and it is expected to conduct in-depth research in the near future. We conducted a thorough investigation on several fundamental issues in this region to provide a refined geological background in the paper. Firstly, a detailed division of the basaltic units within the Mare Fecunditatis was conducted based on the TiO₂ content, and impact craters in each geological unit were mapped with the high-resolution Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera (LROC) Narrow Angle Camera (NAC) images. With the method of lunar surface dating from the crater size-frequency distribution, we found that the model ages of these basalt units range from 3.71 Ga to 3.31 Ga. Next, the thickness of the basalt within the Mare Fecunditatis is estimated with different types of craters, and local basalt thickness ranges from 3 m to 304 m from seven rim-completely-exposed craters in the mare. The rim-completely-exposed craters on the mare-highland boundary, the rim-partially-exposed craters in the mare, and rim-completely-buried craters in the maria also provide information on the thickness of local basalt. Finally, numerical simulations of the formation process of the largest young impact crater in this region, Langrenus crater, was conducted. The simulations show that the Langrenus crater could be formed by a 11.2-km-diameter asteroid hitting the lunar surface with a speed of ∼10 km/s. The average thickness of the ejecta from the Langrenus crater is ∼4.9 m near Luna 16 landing site, indicating that a significant fraction of Luna 16 samples might be the ejecta from the Langrenus crater. The simulations also reveal that the maximum shock pressure on the materials ejected to Luna 16 landing site can reach 92 GPa, and their maximum source depth is approximately 7.1 km. These interpretations can provide valuable information for further study of the Luna 16 samples and inferring the geological history of the Mare Fecunditatis.

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对丰饶海地质演变史的新认识

1970 年，月球 16 号探测器从丰饶海东北部送回 101 克月球碎屑。对这些样本的研究主要是在 20 世纪 70 年代和 80 年代进行的，由于当时的技术所限，取得的科学成果有限。中国于 2023 年获得了 1.5 克月 16 样品，有望在不久的将来开展深入研究。我们对该地区的几个基本问题进行了深入调查，在文中提供了精细的地质背景。首先，根据 TiO2 含量对 "丰饶海 "内的玄武岩单元进行了详细划分，并利用高分辨率月球勘测轨道相机（LROC）窄角相机（NAC）图像绘制了各地质单元中的撞击坑。通过陨石坑大小-频率分布的月球表面年代测定方法，我们发现这些玄武岩单元的模型年龄在 3.71 Ga 至 3.31 Ga 之间。其次，我们利用不同类型的陨石坑估算了丰饶母岩内玄武岩的厚度，从母岩内7个边缘完全暴露的陨石坑中估算出的玄武岩厚度在3米至304米之间。母马-高原边界上的边缘完全暴露的陨石坑、母马中的边缘部分暴露的陨石坑以及海马中的边缘完全埋藏的陨石坑也提供了当地玄武岩厚度的信息。最后，对该地区最大的年轻撞击坑--兰格雷纳斯撞击坑的形成过程进行了数值模拟。模拟结果表明，Langrenus环形山可能是由一颗直径11.2千米的小行星以每秒10千米的速度撞击月球表面形成的。在月球 16 号着陆点附近，兰格雷纳斯陨石坑喷出物的平均厚度为 4.9 米，这表明月球 16 号样品中可能有相当一部分是兰格雷纳斯陨石坑喷出物。模拟还显示，喷射到月球16号着陆点的物质的最大冲击压力可达92 GPa，其最大来源深度约为7.1千米。这些解释为进一步研究月球16号样品和推断丰饶海的地质历史提供了宝贵的信息。

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来源期刊

Icarus 地学天文-天文与天体物理

CiteScore

6.30

自引率

18.80%

发文量

356

审稿时长

2-4 weeks

期刊介绍： Icarus is devoted to the publication of original contributions in the field of Solar System studies. Manuscripts reporting the results of new research - observational, experimental, or theoretical - concerning the astronomy, geology, meteorology, physics, chemistry, biology, and other scientific aspects of our Solar System or extrasolar systems are welcome. The journal generally does not publish papers devoted exclusively to the Sun, the Earth, celestial mechanics, meteoritics, or astrophysics. Icarus does not publish papers that provide "improved" versions of Bode''s law, or other numerical relations, without a sound physical basis. Icarus does not publish meeting announcements or general notices. Reviews, historical papers, and manuscripts describing spacecraft instrumentation may be considered, but only with prior approval of the editor. An entire issue of the journal is occasionally devoted to a single subject, usually arising from a conference on the same topic. The language of publication is English. American or British usage is accepted, but not a mixture of these.