{"title":"Impact Gardening Affects the Composition of Chang'e-5 Lunar Soils","authors":"Yanze Su, Luyuan Xu, Meng-Hua Zhu","doi":"10.1029/2024JE008501","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p>The composition of lunar samples sheds light on the Moon's evolutional history. Analyses of Chang'e-5 (CE-5) lunar soils showed <5% of foreign materials, significantly less than numerical predictions (∼10%). To address this inconsistency, we simulated the impact gardening process, accounting for distal ejecta, and tracked the compositional changes in the top 1 m layer at CE-5 landing area over time. Our results show that impact gardening brings deeper local materials to the surface, leading to a mixture that reduces the distal ejecta proportion within the top 1 m layer from which the soils were collected. After 2.0 Gyr of impact gardening, most materials of the top 1 m layer originate from the upper layer (depth <30 m) of local basalts, with distal ejecta as a minor component (∼2.7 vol.%), consistent with CE-5 soils analyses. Our results emphasize the profound influence of impact gardening on the composition of lunar soils.</p>","PeriodicalId":16101,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets","volume":"130 2","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.9000,"publicationDate":"2025-01-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets","FirstCategoryId":"89","ListUrlMain":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/2024JE008501","RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"GEOCHEMISTRY & GEOPHYSICS","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
The composition of lunar samples sheds light on the Moon's evolutional history. Analyses of Chang'e-5 (CE-5) lunar soils showed <5% of foreign materials, significantly less than numerical predictions (∼10%). To address this inconsistency, we simulated the impact gardening process, accounting for distal ejecta, and tracked the compositional changes in the top 1 m layer at CE-5 landing area over time. Our results show that impact gardening brings deeper local materials to the surface, leading to a mixture that reduces the distal ejecta proportion within the top 1 m layer from which the soils were collected. After 2.0 Gyr of impact gardening, most materials of the top 1 m layer originate from the upper layer (depth <30 m) of local basalts, with distal ejecta as a minor component (∼2.7 vol.%), consistent with CE-5 soils analyses. Our results emphasize the profound influence of impact gardening on the composition of lunar soils.
期刊介绍:
The Journal of Geophysical Research Planets is dedicated to the publication of new and original research in the broad field of planetary science. Manuscripts concerning planetary geology, geophysics, geochemistry, atmospheres, and dynamics are appropriate for the journal when they increase knowledge about the processes that affect Solar System objects. Manuscripts concerning other planetary systems, exoplanets or Earth are welcome when presented in a comparative planetology perspective. Studies in the field of astrobiology will be considered when they have immediate consequences for the interpretation of planetary data. JGR: Planets does not publish manuscripts that deal with future missions and instrumentation, nor those that are primarily of an engineering interest. Instrument, calibration or data processing papers may be appropriate for the journal, but only when accompanied by scientific analysis and interpretation that increases understanding of the studied object. A manuscript that describes a new method or technique would be acceptable for JGR: Planets if it contained new and relevant scientific results obtained using the method. Review articles are generally not appropriate for JGR: Planets, but they may be considered if they form an integral part of a special issue.