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

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Zhuang Guo, Chen Li, Yang Li, Yuanyun Wen, Yanxue Wu, Bojun Jia, Kairui Tai, Xiaojia Zeng, Xiongyao Li, Jianzhong Liu & Ziyuan Ouyang

Nature Communications, Volume 13, Article number: 7177

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“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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