HKU GEOLOGISTS REVEAL MYSTERIOUS AND DIVERSE VOLCANISM IN LUNAR APOLLO BASIN, CHANG'E-6 LANDING SITE
2024.05.07
The farside of the Moon is a mysterious place that is never visible from the Earth. The most remarkable feature of the Moon is its asymmetry between the lunar nearside and farside in composition, crust thickness, and mare volcanism. Scientists have not yet reached a consensus on the origin of the lunar asymmetry due to the lack of farside samples, which is one of the most significant remaining question of lunar science. Chang’e-6 mission, launched on May 3, 2024, currently heading to the Moon, is the world’s first lunar farside sample-return mission. It aims to return ~2 kg lunar soils to the Earth from the southern mare plain of the Apollo basin within the South Pole-Aitken basin, the largest impact feature in the Solar System. These samples contain enormous scientific potentials that can be used to solve the lunar dichotomy conundrum and even reshape human’s knowledge of our closest neighbour. A recent paper was published in Earth and Planetary Science Letters on the Apollo basin, Chang’e-6 landing site, led by Dr Yuqi QIAN, Professors Joseph MICHALSKI and Guochun ZHAO from the Department of Earth Sciences at The University of Hong Kong (HKU). This study revealed the mysterious and diverse volcanism of the Chang’e-6 landing site with significant implications for the Chang’e-6 sample analysis and the origin of the lunar dichotomy.
Detail can be found in
https://hku.hk/press/news_detail_27295.html
