IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/nat/natcom/v13y2022i1d10.1038_s41467-022-33095-1.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Chang’E-5 samples reveal high water content in lunar minerals

Author

Listed:
  • Chuanjiao Zhou

    (Chinese Academy of Sciences
    University of Chinese Academy of Sciences)

  • Hong Tang

    (Chinese Academy of Sciences
    CAS Center for Excellence in Comparative Planetology
    Chinese Academy of Sciences)

  • Xiongyao Li

    (Chinese Academy of Sciences
    CAS Center for Excellence in Comparative Planetology
    Chinese Academy of Sciences)

  • Xiaojia Zeng

    (Chinese Academy of Sciences
    Chinese Academy of Sciences)

  • Bing Mo

    (Chinese Academy of Sciences
    CAS Center for Excellence in Comparative Planetology
    Chinese Academy of Sciences)

  • Wen Yu

    (Chinese Academy of Sciences
    CAS Center for Excellence in Comparative Planetology
    Chinese Academy of Sciences)

  • Yanxue Wu

    (Guangdong University of Technology)

  • Xiandi Zeng

    (Chinese Academy of Sciences
    University of Chinese Academy of Sciences)

  • Jianzhong Liu

    (Chinese Academy of Sciences
    CAS Center for Excellence in Comparative Planetology
    Chinese Academy of Sciences)

  • Yuanyun Wen

    (Chinese Academy of Sciences)

Abstract

The formation and distribution of lunar surficial water remains ambiguous. Here, we show the prominence of water (OH/H2O) attributed to solar wind implantation on the uppermost surface of olivine, plagioclase, and pyroxene grains from Chang’E-5 samples. The results of spectral and microstructural analyses indicate that solar wind-derived water is affected by exposure time, crystal structure, and mineral composition. Our estimate of a minimum of 170 ppm water content in lunar soils in the Chang’E-5 region is consistent with that reported by the Moon Minerology Mapper and Chang’E-5 lander. By comparing with remote sensing data and through lunar soil maturity analysis, the amount of water in Chang’E-5 provides a reference for the distribution of surficial water in middle latitude of the Moon. We conclude that minerals in lunar soils are important reservoirs of water, and formation and retention of water originating from solar wind occurs on airless bodies.

Suggested Citation

  • Chuanjiao Zhou & Hong Tang & Xiongyao Li & Xiaojia Zeng & Bing Mo & Wen Yu & Yanxue Wu & Xiandi Zeng & Jianzhong Liu & Yuanyun Wen, 2022. "Chang’E-5 samples reveal high water content in lunar minerals," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 13(1), pages 1-10, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:13:y:2022:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-022-33095-1
    DOI: 10.1038/s41467-022-33095-1
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-022-33095-1
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1038/s41467-022-33095-1?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Sen Hu & Huicun He & Jianglong Ji & Yangting Lin & Hejiu Hui & Mahesh Anand & Romain Tartèse & Yihong Yan & Jialong Hao & Ruiying Li & Lixin Gu & Qian Guo & Huaiyu He & Ziyuan Ouyang, 2021. "A dry lunar mantle reservoir for young mare basalts of Chang’e-5," Nature, Nature, vol. 600(7887), pages 49-53, December.
    2. Qiu-Li Li & Qin Zhou & Yu Liu & Zhiyong Xiao & Yangting Lin & Jin-Hua Li & Hong-Xia Ma & Guo-Qiang Tang & Shun Guo & Xu Tang & Jiang-Yan Yuan & Jiao Li & Fu-Yuan Wu & Ziyuan Ouyang & Chunlai Li & Xian, 2021. "Two-billion-year-old volcanism on the Moon from Chang’e-5 basalts," Nature, Nature, vol. 600(7887), pages 54-58, December.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Heng-Ci Tian & Chi Zhang & Wei Yang & Jun Du & Yi Chen & Zhiyong Xiao & Ross N. Mitchell & Hejiu Hui & Hitesh G. Changela & Tian-Xin Zhang & Xu Tang & Di Zhang & Yangting Lin & Xianhua Li & Fuyuan Wu, 2023. "Surges in volcanic activity on the Moon about two billion years ago," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-9, December.
    2. Huijuan Zhang & Wei Yang & Di Zhang & Hengci Tian & Renhao Ruan & Sen Hu & Yi Chen & Hejiu Hui & Yanhao Lin & Ross N. Mitchell & Di Zhang & Shitou Wu & Lihui Jia & Lixin Gu & Yangting Lin & XianHua Li, 2024. "Long-term reduced lunar mantle revealed by Chang’e-5 basalt," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-9, December.
    3. Dawei Liu & Xing Wang & Jianjun Liu & Bin Liu & Xin Ren & Yuan Chen & Zhaopeng Chen & Hongbo Zhang & Guangliang Zhang & Qin Zhou & Zhoubin Zhang & Qiang Fu & Chunlai Li, 2022. "Spectral interpretation of late-stage mare basalt mineralogy unveiled by Chang’E-5 samples," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 13(1), pages 1-10, December.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:13:y:2022:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-022-33095-1. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.nature.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.