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Sub-microscopic magnetite and metallic iron particles formed by eutectic reaction in Chang’E-5 lunar soil

Ferric iron as well as magnetite are rarely found in lunar samples, and their distribution and formation mechanisms on the Moon have not been well studied. Here, we discover sub-microscopic magnetite particles in Chang’E-5 lunar soil. Magnetite and pure metallic iron particles are embedded in oxygen...

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Autores principales: Guo, Zhuang, Li, Chen, Li, Yang, Wen, Yuanyun, Wu, Yanxue, Jia, Bojun, Tai, Kairui, Zeng, Xiaojia, Li, Xiongyao, Liu, Jianzhong, Ouyang, Ziyuan
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Nature Publishing Group UK 2022
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9684415/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/36418346
http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41467-022-35009-7
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author Guo, Zhuang
Li, Chen
Li, Yang
Wen, Yuanyun
Wu, Yanxue
Jia, Bojun
Tai, Kairui
Zeng, Xiaojia
Li, Xiongyao
Liu, Jianzhong
Ouyang, Ziyuan
author_facet Guo, Zhuang
Li, Chen
Li, Yang
Wen, Yuanyun
Wu, Yanxue
Jia, Bojun
Tai, Kairui
Zeng, Xiaojia
Li, Xiongyao
Liu, Jianzhong
Ouyang, Ziyuan
author_sort Guo, Zhuang
collection PubMed
description Ferric iron as well as magnetite are rarely found in lunar samples, and their distribution and formation mechanisms on the Moon have not been well studied. Here, we discover sub-microscopic magnetite particles in Chang’E-5 lunar soil. Magnetite and pure metallic iron particles are embedded in oxygen-dissolved iron-sulfide grains from the Chang’E-5 samples. This mineral assemblage indicates a FeO eutectoid reaction (4FeO = Fe(3)O(4) + Fe) for formation of magnetite. The iron-sulfide grains’ morphology features and the oxygen’s distribution suggest that a gas–melt phase reaction occurred during large-impact events. This could provide an effective method to form ubiquitous sub-microscopic magnetite in fine lunar soils and be a contributor to the presentation of ferric iron on the surface of the Moon. Additionally, the formation of sub-microscopic magnetite and metallic iron by eutectoid reaction may provide an alternative way for the formation of magnetic anomalies observed on the Moon.
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spelling pubmed-96844152022-11-25 Sub-microscopic magnetite and metallic iron particles formed by eutectic reaction in Chang’E-5 lunar soil Guo, Zhuang Li, Chen Li, Yang Wen, Yuanyun Wu, Yanxue Jia, Bojun Tai, Kairui Zeng, Xiaojia Li, Xiongyao Liu, Jianzhong Ouyang, Ziyuan Nat Commun Article Ferric iron as well as magnetite are rarely found in lunar samples, and their distribution and formation mechanisms on the Moon have not been well studied. Here, we discover sub-microscopic magnetite particles in Chang’E-5 lunar soil. Magnetite and pure metallic iron particles are embedded in oxygen-dissolved iron-sulfide grains from the Chang’E-5 samples. This mineral assemblage indicates a FeO eutectoid reaction (4FeO = Fe(3)O(4) + Fe) for formation of magnetite. The iron-sulfide grains’ morphology features and the oxygen’s distribution suggest that a gas–melt phase reaction occurred during large-impact events. This could provide an effective method to form ubiquitous sub-microscopic magnetite in fine lunar soils and be a contributor to the presentation of ferric iron on the surface of the Moon. Additionally, the formation of sub-microscopic magnetite and metallic iron by eutectoid reaction may provide an alternative way for the formation of magnetic anomalies observed on the Moon. Nature Publishing Group UK 2022-11-23 /pmc/articles/PMC9684415/ /pubmed/36418346 http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41467-022-35009-7 Text en © The Author(s) 2022 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons license, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons license and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) .
spellingShingle Article
Guo, Zhuang
Li, Chen
Li, Yang
Wen, Yuanyun
Wu, Yanxue
Jia, Bojun
Tai, Kairui
Zeng, Xiaojia
Li, Xiongyao
Liu, Jianzhong
Ouyang, Ziyuan
Sub-microscopic magnetite and metallic iron particles formed by eutectic reaction in Chang’E-5 lunar soil
title Sub-microscopic magnetite and metallic iron particles formed by eutectic reaction in Chang’E-5 lunar soil
title_full Sub-microscopic magnetite and metallic iron particles formed by eutectic reaction in Chang’E-5 lunar soil
title_fullStr Sub-microscopic magnetite and metallic iron particles formed by eutectic reaction in Chang’E-5 lunar soil
title_full_unstemmed Sub-microscopic magnetite and metallic iron particles formed by eutectic reaction in Chang’E-5 lunar soil
title_short Sub-microscopic magnetite and metallic iron particles formed by eutectic reaction in Chang’E-5 lunar soil
title_sort sub-microscopic magnetite and metallic iron particles formed by eutectic reaction in chang’e-5 lunar soil
topic Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9684415/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/36418346
http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41467-022-35009-7
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