嫦娥六号月壤科学分析“上新”！撞击残留物有助解释月球水来源

Core Insights - A research team from the Guangzhou Institute of Geochemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, has identified impact residues from a type of carbonaceous chondrite known as "CI chondrite" in lunar samples from the Chang'e 6 mission, which are rich in water and other components. This discovery opens new avenues for studying the distribution and evolution of water resources on the Moon. The findings were published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences on October 21, Beijing time [1]. Group 1 - The research focused on a 2-gram lunar sample from Chang'e 6, where seven micro-fragments rich in olivine were identified. These fragments are products of CI chondrite parent bodies that impacted the Moon's surface, melted, and then rapidly crystallized [3]. - CI chondrites are primarily found in asteroids outside the solar system and are characterized by their high volatile content, including water and organic materials. The study revealed that the proportion of such chondrites on the Moon's surface is significantly higher than on Earth [3]. - This finding suggests that materials from the asteroid belt can migrate into the inner solar system and has important implications for understanding the sources of water on the Moon. Previous detections of water with positive oxygen isotope characteristics in lunar samples are likely derived from impacts by these chondrites [3]. Group 2 - Researcher Lin Mang from the Guangzhou Institute of Geochemistry stated that there are various hypotheses regarding the origin of lunar water, including local sources, solar contributions, and impacts from comets and asteroids. The discovery of water-rich chondrites indicates that their contribution to lunar water has been previously underestimated [5]. - Future research is needed to quantitatively assess how much water has been delivered to the Moon by these types of chondrites [5].