Abstract
Chang’e-5 (CE-5) successfully landed on the young basalts area in the northeastern Oceanus Procellarum on 1 December 2020. Recent studies on the CE-5 landing area have shown that the lack of gas-related volcanic morphology indicates that the volatile elements captured in the interior of the Moon within late-stage magma is relatively low. Typical lunar gas-related volcanic features include dark mantle deposits, volcanic pits, irregular mare patches and so on. Based on orbital images, topography, and spectral data obtained from multiple missions restricted by the morphologic and compositional characteristics of typical volcanic explosive features, this study investigated the morphological characteristics of the volcanic features in detail and found that there are three dark mantle deposits (DMDs) near the source area of Rima Mairan that have unusually low albedo and abnormally high titanium and iron content than those of the surrounding material. Combined with M3 spectral analysis, it is shown that DMDs contain some volcanic glass components, which indicates a gas-rich explosive eruption process. In addition to DMDs, irregular mare patches (IMPs) and a volcanic depression/pit have been recognized in this area, both of which indicate a history of gas-related volcanic eruptions. Based on this study and combined with past studies, we determined the volcanic history in the source area of Rima Mairan, including both effusive and explosive volcanic activities.
Highlights
Chang’e-5 (CE-5) landed in the dark basalts area of Northeastern Oceanus Procellarum at 23:11 (UTC) on 1 December, 2020 and successfully returned with lunar samples on17 December
The absolute model age (AMA) of the P58/Em4 unit where the CE-5 landing zone located is ~1.3–2.2 Ga, which belongs to the Eratosthenian and makes the CE-5 landing area as one of the youngest mare basaltic units on the Moon [1,2,3,4]
Based on the morphological and compositional characteristics of the typical gasrelated volcanic landforms described previously, we found that there are some similar volcanic features near the source area of Rima Mairan within the geologic unit where CE-5 is located
Summary
Chang’e-5 (CE-5) landed in the dark basalts area of Northeastern Oceanus Procellarum at 23:11 (UTC) on 1 December, 2020 and successfully returned with lunar samples on17 December. Chang’e-5 (CE-5) landed in the dark basalts area of Northeastern Oceanus Procellarum at 23:11 (UTC) on 1 December, 2020 and successfully returned with lunar samples on. The CE-5 landing area is located at the junction of Oceanus Procellarum and. The morphology near the CE5 landing area has been extensively investigated. In addition to the non-mare domes and the mare domes within Mons Rümker, the other volcanic features include extensive mare basalts, Rima Sharp, Rima Mairan, and multiple possible volcanic vents [3,5,6]. The lack of gas-related volcanic morphology indicates that the amount of volatile elements captured in the interior of the Moon in magma is relatively low in the area where CE-5 is located [5]
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