title: Potassium map from Chang'E-2 constraints the impact of Crisium and Orientale basin on the Moon.
abstract: KREEP materials were thought to be last crystallized at the lunar crust and mantle boundary. Impact cratering and volcanism are mainly responsible for their distributions on the lunar surface. Therefore, observation of global KREEP materials and investigation of distributions in the areas of large basins are of critical importance to understand the geologic history of the Moon. Here we report the new global potassium distribution on the Moon detected by Chang'E-2 Gamma-ray Spectrometer. We found that our new measurements are in general agreement with previous observation. A new finding and an important difference is that relatively higher K abundances in the Mare Crisium and Mare Orientale than their surrounding rims were detected for the first time. In light of our observations in these two areas, we propose that Crisium and Orientale basin-forming impact events may have penetrated to the lower crust and excavate the deeper materials to the lunar surface.
authors.affiliation: Space Science Institute, Macau University of Science and Technology, Taipa, Macau. mhzhu@must.edu.mo
authors.forename: Meng-Hua
authors.initials: MH
authors.lastname: Zhu
authors.forename: Jin
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Chang
authors.forename: Tao
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Ma
authors.forename: Wing-Huen
authors.initials: WH
authors.lastname: Ip
authors.forename: WenZhe
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Fa
authors.forename: Jian
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.forename: MingSheng
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Cai
authors.forename: YiZhong
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Gong
authors.forename: YiMing
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Hu
authors.forename: AoAo
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.forename: ZeSheng
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Tang
mesh_terms: D016081:Moon; D011188:Potassium / Q000032:analysis*; D012987:Soil / Q000032:analysis* / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D012987:Soil; D011188:Potassium
references.citation: Science. 2010 Sep 17;329(5998):1504-7
references.pmid: 20847265
references.citation: Geophys Res Lett. 2014 Apr 16;41(7):2282-2288
references.pmid: 26074646
references.citation: Science. 1998 Sep 4;281(5382):1484-9
references.pmid: 9727970