Cai Shuhui, Qin Huafeng, Wang Huapei, Deng Chenglong, Yang Saihong, Xu Ya, Zhang Chi, Tang Xu, Gu Lixin, Li Xiaoguang, Shen Zhongshan, Zhang Min, He Kuang, Qi Kaixian, Fan Yunchang, Dong Liang, Hou Yifei, Shi Pingyuan, Liu Shuangchi, Su Fei, Chen Yi, Li Qiuli, Li Jinhua, Mitchell Ross N, He Huaiyu, Li Chunlai, Pan Yongxin, Zhu Rixiang
State Key Laboratory of Lithospheric and Environmental Coevolution, Institute of Geology and Geophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100029, China.
College of Earth and Planetary Sciences, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China.
Sci Adv. 2025 Jan 3;11(1):eadp3333. doi: 10.1126/sciadv.adp3333. Epub 2025 Jan 1.
The evolution of the lunar magnetic field can reveal the Moon's interior structure, thermal history, and surface environment. The mid-to-late-stage evolution of the lunar magnetic field is poorly constrained, and thus, the existence of a long-lived lunar dynamo remains controversial. The Chang'e-5 mission returned the heretofore youngest mare basalts from Oceanus Procellarum uniquely positioned at midlatitude. We recovered weak paleointensities of ~2 to 4 microtesla from the Chang'e-5 basalt clasts at 2 billion years ago, attesting to the longevity of the lunar dynamo until at least the Moon's midstage. This paleomagnetic result implies the existence of thermal convection in the lunar deep interior at the lunar midstage, which may have supplied mantle heat flux for young volcanism.
月球磁场的演化可以揭示月球的内部结构、热历史和表面环境。月球磁场的中后期演化受到的限制较少，因此，长期存在的月球发电机的存在仍然存在争议。嫦娥五号任务从位于中纬度的风暴洋带回了迄今为止最年轻的月海玄武岩。我们在20亿年前从嫦娥五号玄武岩碎屑中恢复了约2至4微特斯拉的微弱古强度，证明了月球发电机至少在月球中期的长期存在。这一古地磁结果意味着在月球中期月球深部内部存在热对流，这可能为年轻火山活动提供了地幔热通量。
