Jianzhong Liu

Correlated compositional and mineralogical investigations at the Chang'e-3 landing site

The chemical compositions of relatively young mare lava flows have implications for the late volcanism on the Moon. Here we report the composition of soil along the rim of a 450-m diameter fresh crater at the Chang′e-3 (CE-3) landing site, investigated by the Yutu rover with in situ APXS (Active Particle-induced X-ray Spectrometer) and VNIS (Visible and Near-infrared Imaging Spectrometer) measurements. Results indicate that this regions composition differs from other mare sample-return sites and is a new type of mare basalt not previously sampled, but consistent with remote sensing. The CE-3 regolith derived from olivine-normative basaltic rocks with high FeO/(FeO+MgO). Deconvolution of the VNIS data indicates abundant high-Ca ferropyroxene (augite and pigeonite) plus Fe-rich olivine. We infer from the regolith composition that the basaltic source rocks formed during late-stage magma-ocean differentiation when dense ferropyroxene-ilmenite cumulates sank and mixed with deeper, relatively ferroan olivine and orthopyroxene in a hybridized mantle source.

Reflectance conversion methods for the VIS/NIR imaging spectrometer aboard the Chang’E-3 lunar rover: based on ground validation experiment data

The second phase of the Chang’E Program (also named Chang’E-3) has the goal to land and perform in-situ detection on the lunar surface. A VIS/NIR imaging spectrometer (VNIS) will be carried on the Chang’E-3 lunar rover to detect the distribution of lunar minerals and resources. VNIS is the first mission in history to perform in-situ spectral measurement on the surface of the Moon, the reflectance data of which are fundamental for interpretation of lunar composition, whose quality would greatly affect the accuracy of lunar element and mineral determination. Until now, in-situ detection by imaging spectrometers was only performed by rovers on Mars. We firstly review reflectance conversion methods for rovers on Mars (Viking landers, Pathfinder and Mars Exploration rovers, etc). Secondly, we discuss whether these conversion methods used on Mars can be applied to lunar in-situ detection. We also applied data from a laboratory bidirectional reflectance distribution function (BRDF) using simulated lunar soil to test the availability of this method. Finally, we modify reflectance conversion methods used on Mars by considering differences between environments on the Moon and Mars and apply the methods to experimental data obtained from the ground validation of VNIS. These results were obtained by comparing reflectance data from the VNIS measured in the laboratory with those from a standard spectrometer obtained at the same time and under the same observing conditions. The shape and amplitude of the spectrum fits well, and the spectral uncertainty parameters for most samples are within 8%, except for the ilmenite sample which has a low albedo. In conclusion, our reflectance conversion method is suitable for lunar in-situ detection.

Reflectance Spectral Characteristics of Lunar Surface Materials

Based on a comprehensive analysis of the mineral composition of major lunar rocks (highland anorthosite, lunar mare basalt and KREEP rock), we investigate the reflectance spectral characteristics of the lunar rock-forming minerals, including feldspar, pyroxene and olivine. The affecting factors, the variation of the intensity of solar radiation with wavelength and the reflectance spectra of the lunar rocks are studied. We also calculate the reflectivity of lunar mare basalt and highland anorthosite at 300, 415, 750, 900, 950 and 1000 nm. It is considered that the difference in composition between lunar mare basalt and highland anorthosite is so large that separate analyses are needed in the study of the reflectivity of lunar surface materials in the two regions covered by mare basalt and highland anorthosite, and especially in the region with high Th contents, which may be the KREEP-distributed region.

Time series data correction for the Chang'E-1 gamma-ray spectrometer

The main goal of the gamma-ray spectrometer (GRS) onboard Chang’E- 1 (CE-1) is to acquire global maps of elemental abundances and their distributions on the moon, since such maps will significantly improve our understanding of lunar formation and evolution. To derive the elemental maps and enable research on lunar formation and evolution, raw data that are received directly from the spacecraft must be converted into time series corrected gamma-ray spectra. The data correction procedures for the CE-1 GRS time series data are thoroughly described. The processing procedures to create the time series gamma-ray spectra described here include channel processing, optimal data selection, energy calibration, gain correction, dead time correction, geometric correction, orbit altitude normalization, eliminating unusable data and galactic cosmic ray correction. Finally, descriptions are also given on data measurement uncertainties, which will help the interested scientists to understand and estimate various uncertainties associated with the above data processing.

A Study on the Recovery and Classification of Meteorites from the Mt. Grove Region of Antarctica

The Antarctic Continent has become the largest natural preservatory of meteorites in the world because of its unique geographical position and climatic conditions. Mt. Grove is located in the inland area of the Antarctic Continent where the conditions are favorable for the preservation of meteorites. During Chinas 15th, 16th and 19th Antarctic Scientific Explorations a large number of meteorites were recovered in the Mt. Grove region. Especially during the 19th Exploration in 2002/03 a total of 4448 meteorites were recovered, which at one stroke put China among countries that have recovered most numbers of meteorites. Here, we report mainly the results of microscope and electron microprobe studies of 28 meteorites recovered during the 16th Exploration. The meteorites are chemically classified based on their mean Fa contents of olivine, mean Fs contents of low-Ca pyroxene and abundances of Fe-Ni metal. We also give a brief account of the meteorite recovery during the three Explorations and of some preliminary classification results of the Antarctic meteorites.

Correlation analysis and partial least square modeling to quantify typical minerals with Chang’E-3 visible and near-infrared imaging spectrometer’s ground validation data

In 2013, Chang’E-3 program will develop lunar mineral resources in-situ detection. A Visible and Near-infrared Imaging Spectrometer (VNIS) has been selected as one payload of CE-3 lunar rover to achieve this goal. It is critical and urgent to evaluate VNIS’ spectrum data quality and validate quantification methods for mineral composition before its launch. Ground validation experiment of VNIS was carried out to complete the two goals, by simulating CE-3 lunar rover’s detection environment on lunar surface in the laboratory. Based on the hyperspectral reflectance data derived, Correlation Analysis and Partial Least Square (CA-PLS) algorithm is applied to predict abundance of four lunar typical minerals (pyroxene, plagioclase, ilmenite and olivine) in their mixture. We firstly selected a set of VNIS’ spectral parameters which highly correlated with minerals’ abundance by correlation analysis (CA), and then stepwise regression method was used to find out spectral parameters which make the largest contributions to the mineral contents. At last, functions were derived to link minerals’ abundance and spectral parameters by partial least square (PLS) algorithm. Not considering the effect of maturity, agglutinate and Fe0, we found that there are wonderful correlations between these four minerals and VNIS’ spectral parameters, e.g. the abundance of pyroxene correlates positively with the mixture’s absorption depth, the value of absorption depth added as the increasing of pyroxene’s abundance. But the abundance of plagioclase correlates negatively with the spectral parameters of band ratio, the value of band ratio would decrease when the abundance of plagioclase increased. Similar to plagioclase, the abundance of ilmenite and olivine has a negative correlation with the mixture’s reflectance data, if the abundance of ilmenite or olivine increase, the reflectance values of the mixture will decrease. Through model validation, better estimates of pyroxene, plagioclase and ilmenite’s abundances are given. It is concluded that VNIS has the capability to be applied on lunar minerals’ identification, and CA-PLS algorithm has the potential to be used on lunar surface’s in-situ detection for minerals’ abundance prediction.

Oxygen isotopic (17O-18O) heterogeneity in Archaean continental nucleus, North China Craton

The oxygen isotopic data for amphibolites from Archaean continental nucleus, North China Craton indicate that ( i ) the evolving lines structured by the data are parallel to the geoselenic evolving line, which means that the parent materials of these continental nucleus originated from solar matter; ( ii ) different intercepts for these evolving lines manifest that oxygen isotopic compositions of different continental nucleus are heterogeneous, which means that these continental nucleuses originated from different parent resources with different original compositions.

Lunar Orientale Impact Basin Secondary Craters: Spatial Distribution, Size‐Frequency Distribution, and Estimation of Fragment Size

Secondary impact craters, features created by projectiles ejected from a primary impact, contain important information about the primary cratering event and the nature and distribution of its ejecta. The Orientale impact basin (D similar to 930km) is the youngest and the least degraded large impact basin on the Moon and has the most recognizable secondary impact craters. We identified and mapped 2,728 secondary craters in the investigated area of similar to 1.66x10(7)km(2), covering an area from the rim of Orientale to six radii. Secondary crater diameters range from similar to 2 to 27km, and the median diameter decreases as distance increases. Secondary craters are concentrated predominantly in the northwest and southwest. The ejecta deposit pattern inferred from secondary crater distribution suggests that the Orientale basin was formed by an oblique impact in which the downrange direction was 240 degrees-265 degrees in azimuth, and the incidence angle was steeper than 20 degrees. The cumulative size-frequency distribution of mapped secondary craters steepens as diameter increases and is very well approximated with a Weibull distribution with an exponent 1.32. A widely used crater scaling relationship predicts that the fragments that produced the secondary craters were predominantly in similar to 0.5-2-km diameter range over the investigated area; the diameter of the largest fragment, however, decreases with increasing distance from Orientale. On the basis of the diameter of the largest secondary crater of Orientale, and other craters and basins, the largest secondary crater of the South Pole-Aitken basin is estimated to be similar to 40km in diameter. We explore the implications of these findings for the evolution of the megaregolith and future sample return missions.

Compositions and possible sources of lunar meteorite NWA 4884

Lunar mare basalts represent the products of partial remelting of deep mantle sources and provide windows into the compositions of lunar interior. Nine Apollo and Luna missions returned large amounts of mare basaltic samples, while remote sensing suggests that sampled basalts may cover only a small number of the lunar basalt types and there is still no samples confirmed to originate from the lunar farside maria (Jolliff et al., 2006). Since basaltic lunar meteorites sampled from random locations on the lunar surface, they are likely to be launched from unexplored mare regions on the Moon. Determining their source regions and studying the composition and chronology of the sampled lava flow will contribute to our understanding of the magmatic evolution and thermal history in the lunar mantle. This work utilizes chemical information of lunar meteorite NWA 4884 (Korotev et al., 2009) and spectroscopic compositional data of basalt units (Lawrence et al., 2002; Lucey et al., 2000), to derive the potential source regions of NWA 4884.

Experiments on dehydration-melting of the khondalite series in the northern segment of Helan Mountain, III—the evolution of oxygen, water, and hydrogen fugacities

Based on the experiments on dehydration-melting of solid samples of Al-rich gneiss (H029) and biotite granulitite (H013), the fugacities of O2, H2O and H2 have been calculated. It is recognized that the fugacities of O2, H2O and H2 vary regularly, but the fugacity of H2O shows a tendency of abrupt increasing at about 700°C and 800°C. According to the above fact, the melting mechanism of biotite can be well documented. Under relatively low temperatures (< 750°C), part of the water can be liberated and induce plagioclase to melt, which may mark the beginning of migmatization. At high temperatures (> 800°C), biotite can be dissociated and a larger amount of water can be released, which would result in a bigger degree of melting, hence leading to the formation of granitic magma.