1. Vapor-deposited digenite in Chang'e-5 lunar soil.
- Author
-
Guo, Zhuang, Li, Chen, Li, Yang, Wu, Yanxue, Zhu, Chenxi, Wen, Yuanyun, Fa, Wenzhe, Li, Xiongyao, Liu, Jianzhong, and Ouyang, Ziyuan
- Subjects
- *
LUNAR soil , *LUNAR craters , *VAPOR-plating , *GLASS beads , *COPPER , *CHEMICAL properties - Abstract
[Display omitted] Frequent impacts on the Moon have changed the physical and chemical properties of the lunar regolith, with new materials deposited from the impact-induced vapor phase. Here, we combined nanoscale chemical and structural analysis to identify the mineral digenite (4Cu 2 S·CuS) in Chang'e-5 lunar soil. This is the first report of digenite in a lunar sample. The surface-correlated digenite phase is undifferentiated in distribution and compositionally distinct from its hosts, suggesting that it originated from vapor-phase deposition. The presence of an Al-rich impact glass bead suggests that a thermal effect provided by impact ejecta is the main heat source for the evaporation of Cu-S components from a cupriferous troilite precursor, and the digenite condensed from these Cu-S vapors. A large pure metallic iron (Fe0) particle and high Cu content within the studied Cu-Fe-S grain suggest that this grain was most likely derived from a highly differentiated and reduced melt. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2023
- Full Text
- View/download PDF