The State Key Laboratory of Lunar and Planetary Science of the Macau University of Science and Technology (MUST) has made another breakthrough in the major problem of the early lunar evolution! The research paper "Lunar compositional asymmetry explained by mantle overturn following the South Pole-Aitken impact" by Assistant Professor Ding Man of the laboratory was published in the prestigious international journal Nature Geoscience on January 10, 2022. The paper "Lunar compositional asymmetry explained by mantle overturn following the South Pole-Aitken impact" was published in the internationally renowned journal Nature Geoscience on 10 January 2022. The study explains the internal and external kinetic coupling of the asymmetric distribution of the Moon's front and back surfaces, which provides new ideas for the early thermochemical evolution of the Moon and other Earth-like planets, and provides new scientific support for planetary exploration missions to the Moon and Mars, and is supported by the Macao Science and Technology Development Foundation. The paper's co-first author and corresponding author, Assistant Professor Dr. Ding Man, graduated from MIT and joined the State Key Laboratory of Lunar and Planetary Sciences at AUST in 2019 to conduct research on the geodynamics of Earth-like planets.
The physico-chemical asymmetry of the Moon's obverse and reverse sides was formed in the early stage of the Moon's evolution, which is the starting point of the Moon's subsequent evolution and profoundly affects the direction of the subsequent geological and thermodynamic long-term evolution. However, the formation mechanism is still unclear. The main mechanisms of formation proposed in this study include external dynamical impact and internal dynamical mantle convection, but none of them can clearly explain the lunar topography, shell structure, basalt distribution, chemical composition, residual magnetic field, geological age and other observational features. Considering the prevalence of internal and external dynamical processes in lunar evolution, this study suggests that the thermal anomalies caused by the largest lunar impact event (i.e., the South Pole-Aitken Basin formation event on the lunar back side) can contribute to the formation of a mantle source region rich in ilmenite and kriepite on the lunar front side through the mantle convection process, which results in the asymmetric distribution of chemical compositions on the front and back sides. The study was highlighted in Nature under the title "Cosmic impact reveals a mystery on the Moon".
The State Key Laboratory of Lunar and Planetary Sciences (SKL) of MUST is committed to promoting the development of national planetary science and cultivating high-quality talents in planetary science needed by the country, and is deeply involved in the national deep space exploration program. As the only scientific research institution in China specializing in lunar and planetary science, the scientific staff fully participated in the data analysis and research work of Chang'e lunar exploration project; jointly with the Purple Mountain Observatory of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the research and data analysis work of the gamma-ray spectrometer of Chang'e 1 and 2; together with mainland scientists, the effective scientific data of Chang'e 3 and Chang'e 4 were analyzed and fruitful scientific results were obtained. The scientific results have been very fruitful. In addition, the laboratory researchers are also analyzing the Chang'e 5 lunar samples.
At the same time, a number of researchers from the State Key Laboratory of Lunar and Planetary Science (SKL), as the core scientists, are deeply involved in the analysis and research of the exploration data of the first Chinese Mars exploration mission "Tianqin-1", and actively participate in the national follow-up deep space exploration plan, and promote the future exploration plan of asteroids and giant planets to help the development of national lunar and planetary science.
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