Non-KREEP origin for Chang’e-5 basalts in the Procellarum KREEP Terrane

AbstractMare volcanics on the Moon are the key record of thermo-chemical evolution throughout most of lunar history1–3. Young mare basalts—mainly distributed in a region rich in potassium, rare-earth elements and phosphorus (KREEP) in Oceanus Procellarum, called the Procellarum KREEP Terrane (PKT)4—were thought to be formed from KREEP-rich sources at depth5–7. However, this hypothesis has not been tested with young basalts from the PKT. Here we present a petrological and geochemical study of the basalt clasts from the PKT returned by the Chang’e-5 mission8. These two-billion-year-old basalts are the youngest lunar samples reported so far9. Bulk rock compositions have moderate titanium and high iron contents with KREEP-like rare-earth-element and high thorium concentrations. However, strontium–neodymium isotopes indicate that these basalts were derived from a non-KREEP mantle source. To produce the high abundances of rare-earth elements and thorium, low-degree partial melting and extensive fractional crystallization are required. Our results indicate that the KREEP association may not be a prerequisite for young mare volcanism. Absolving the need to invoke heat-producing elements in their source implies a more sustained cooling history of the lunar interior to generate the Moon’s youngest melts.

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Details

Published: Oct 19, 2021
Vol/Issue: 600(7887)
Pages: 59-63
License: View

Authors

College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Ministry of Education Key Laboratory of Pollution Processes and Environmental Criteria, Tianjin Key Laboratory of Environmental Remediation and Pollution Control, Nankai University, Tianjin 300350, China

Shenzhen University

Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics, Columbia University, New York, NY 10032.

Q

Qin Zhou

Faculty of Materials Metallurgical and Chemistry Jiangxi University of Science and Technology 341000 Ganzhou China

C

Chi Zhang

AstraZeneca (Netherlands)

Center for Advanced Materials Research, Henan Key Laboratory of Functional Salt Materials, and School of Materials Electronics and Energy Storage, Zhongyuan University of Technology, Zhengzhou 450007, P. R. China

Genomics and Computational Biology Graduate Group, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA.

X

Xiao-Guang Li

International Center for Quantum Design of Functional Materials; Hefei National Laboratory for Physical Sciences at the Microscale; University of Science and Technology of China; Hefei, China; Shenzhen Institutes of Advanced Technology

Cite This Article

Heng-Ci Tian, Haitao Wang, Yi Chen, et al. (2021). Non-KREEP origin for Chang’e-5 basalts in the Procellarum KREEP Terrane. Nature, 600(7887), 59-63. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-021-04119-5

Non-KREEP origin for Chang’e-5 basalts in the Procellarum KREEP Terrane

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