2023-11-27 13:38:43
This merged photo shows cross-polarized micrographs of different lunar soil particles – XINHUA
MADRID, 27 Nov. (EUROPA PRESS) –
An international team has mapped the chemical composition of the lunar surface with great precision, providing key data for the study of the evolution of the moon.
The chemistry of the lunar surface is essential to reveal petrological features in order to understand the evolution of the moon. Existing chemical mapping based on lunar samples collected by Apollo and Luna could only reveal the evolution of the Moon 3,000 million years agoomitting the critical late period, according to Xinhua.
However, lunar samples brought back by China’s Chang’e-5 mission have been shown to contain information about young volcanic activity about 2 billion years ago and distinctive material composition.
The research team, led by Chinese scientists, accurately estimated the content of major elements on the lunar surface combining the different sample data available with an investment model based on deep learningsaid Yang Chen, a professor at Jilin University.
They subsequently created a new distribution map of the chemical composition of the lunar surface with high precision and high resolution, which comprehensively reflected the chemical characteristics of the lunar surface.
The researchers also calibrated the young ‘mare’ basalt units based on the newly calculated element contentwhich will provide reliable data for historical studies of magmatic activity and thermal evolution in the late lunar period and for future lunar sample return missions, Yang said.
The study was jointly carried out by Jilin University, the National Astronomical Observatories of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the University of Trento in Italy, the University of Iceland and other Chinese and foreign research institutions.
The study was recently published in the journal Nature Communications.
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