US EditionChang'e-6 Samples Confirm Uniform Impact Rates Across Moon
Chang'e-6 samples recalibrated lunar crater dating, confirming uniform impact rates and revealing the South Pole–Aitken impact caused major volatile loss and altered lunar chemistry.
- On Thursday, a research team from the Chinese Academy of Sciences' Institute of Geology and Geophysics revised the decades-old lunar crater chronology and published it in Science Advances after integrating Chang'e-6 crater data with Apollo, Luna and Chang'e-5 samples.
- Far-Side sampling filled a gap created by reliance on near-side Apollo specimens, as Chang'e-6 basalts from the Apollo Basin within South Pole–Aitken Basin provided the first far-side sample anchor beyond the 4 billion years limit.
- Using sapphire collision-cell MC-ICP-MS, the study reports elevated δ41K values in all Chang'e-6 samples, attributed to the SPA impact, and published in a 2026 PNAS paper.
- The giant impact's heat and volatile loss produced mantle convection beneath the Moon and reduced far-side magma production, explaining near-side vs far-side volcanic asymmetry.
- By providing a far-side anchor, the revised chronology indicates a "uniform impact flux" across the moon, offering a reliable basis for a globally unified lunar chronology and improved dating of other planetary surfaces.
14 Articles
14 Articles
Chang’e-6 lunar samples reveal a giant impact reshaped the Moon’s interior
A colossal ancient impact may have reshaped the Moon far more deeply than scientists once realized. By analyzing rare lunar rocks brought back by China’s Chang’e-6 mission from the Moon’s largest crater, researchers found unusual chemical fingerprints pointing to extreme heat and material loss caused by a giant impact. The collision likely stripped away volatile elements, reshaped volcanic activity, and left a lasting chemical signature deep bel…
Chang'e-6 samples reveal how giant asteroid impact affected lunar interior
A research team led by Prof. TIAN Hengci from the Institute of Geology and Geophysics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (IGGCAS) conducted extensive analysis of lunar basalts collected by Chang'e-6 (CE6) from the South Pole–Aitken (SPA) Basin. These samples exhibit significantly heavier potassium (K) isotopic compositions than all previously documented lunar basalts from the Apollo missions and lunar meteorites.
Chinese scientists make lunar chronology breakthrough with Chang'e-6 samples from far side of moon
For the first time, scientists have confirmed that impact cratering rates on the near and far sides of the moon are essentially consistent, laying a solid foundation for the establishment of a globally unified lunar chronology system, according to Science
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