月のクレーター形成に伴う酸化鉄鉱物の初検出（Chang’e-6 Samples Reveal First Evidence of Impact-Formed Hematite and Maghemite on the Moon）

2025-11-17 中国科学院（CAS）

Graphical depiction of the formation scenario of ferric oxides in Chang’e-6 lunar sample. (Image by IGCAS)

＜関連情報＞

• https://english.cas.cn/newsroom/research_news/earth/202511/t20251113_1100639.shtml
• https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.ady5169

回収された月の土壌中に結晶性Fe2O3が発見される Discovery of crystalline Fe2O3 in returned lunar soils

Yiheng Liu, Haijun Cao, Rui Li, Jian Chen, […] , and Zongcheng Ling
Science Advances  Published:14 Nov 2025
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.ady5169

Abstract

Lunar materials were believed to have formed and been preserved in a reducing environment, with only Fe²⁺ and Fe⁰ present. Native oxidized minerals, such as hematite, have not been validated in previously returned lunar samples. In this work, we report the discovery of micrometer-scale crystalline Fe₂O₃ in the forms of hematite (α-Fe₂O₃) and maghemite (γ-Fe₂O₃) overgrowing troilite in the recently returned Chang’e-6 (CE6) lunar soils. It is possible that impact-induced oxygen release created localized micrometer-scale regions of elevated oxygen fugacity, facilitating the formation of Fe₂O₃ at temperatures between ~700° and 1000°C. This finding provides credible evidence for the presence of Fe₂O₃ on the lunar surface, challenging the traditional understanding of lunar surface redox states. In addition, the Fe₂O₃ in the form of maghemite may be the mineralogical reason for the generation of the magnetic anomalies observed around the South Pole–Aitken basin.