【人民日报】嫦娥六号样品最新研究揭秘月球“休眠”为何还有火山喷发

Core Insights - The research challenges the long-held belief that the Moon became "dormant" 3 billion years ago, revealing that volcanic activity persisted during its "late period" [1][2] - A new thermodynamic mechanism is proposed, indicating that magma was trapped in the upper mantle, leading to volcanic eruptions due to heat transfer [2][3] Group 1: Research Findings - The Chang'e 5 and Chang'e 6 missions returned basalt samples dated at 2.0 billion and 2.8 billion years, respectively, confirming ongoing volcanic activity [1] - Two distinct types of basalt were identified from the Chang'e 6 samples, originating from different depths in the Moon's mantle: ultra-low-titanium basalt from over 120 km deep and low-titanium basalt from 60-80 km deep [1][2] - The study revealed that the volcanic activity's heat source transitioned around 3 billion years ago, shifting from a complex array of sources to a dominant upward heat transfer mechanism [2] Group 2: Implications - The findings provide new insights into the thermal evolution history of the Moon and may serve as a reference for understanding volcanic activity mechanisms on other small, airless celestial bodies [3]