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Updated: Aug 20, 2025

Atom Probe Tomography Analysis of Exsolved Mineral Phases
Published on: October 25, 2019
Sub-microscopic magnetite and metallic iron particles formed by eutectic reaction in Chang'E-5 lunar soil
Zhuang Guo1,2,3, Chen Li1,4, Yang Li5,6
1Center for Lunar and Planetary Sciences, Institute of Geochemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 550081, Guiyang, China.
Abstract:
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 = Fe3O4 + 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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