Lunar dichotomy in surface water storage of impact glass beads

Huicun He, Sen Hu (), Liang Gao, Ruiying Li, Jialong Hao, Ross N. Mitchell, Kai Lu, Yubing Gao, Linxi Li, Mengfan Qiu, Zhan Zhou, Wei Yang, Shuhui Cai, Yi Chen, Lihui Jia, Qiu-Li Li, Hejiu Hui, Yangting Lin, Xian-Hua Li and Fu-Yuan Wu
Additional contact information
Huicun He: Chinese Academy of Sciences
Sen Hu: Chinese Academy of Sciences
Liang Gao: Chinese Academy of Sciences
Ruiying Li: Chinese Academy of Sciences
Jialong Hao: Chinese Academy of Sciences
Ross N. Mitchell: University of Chinese Academy of Sciences
Kai Lu: Chinese Academy of Sciences
Yubing Gao: Chinese Academy of Sciences
Linxi Li: Chinese Academy of Sciences
Mengfan Qiu: Chinese Academy of Sciences
Zhan Zhou: Chinese Academy of Sciences
Wei Yang: Chinese Academy of Sciences
Shuhui Cai: Chinese Academy of Sciences
Yi Chen: Chinese Academy of Sciences
Lihui Jia: Chinese Academy of Sciences
Qiu-Li Li: Chinese Academy of Sciences
Hejiu Hui: Nanjing University
Yangting Lin: Chinese Academy of Sciences
Xian-Hua Li: Chinese Academy of Sciences
Fu-Yuan Wu: Chinese Academy of Sciences

Nature Communications, 2025, vol. 16, issue 1, 1-12

Abstract: Abstract Water is the one of most precious resources for planetary utilisation. Lunar nearside impact glass beads (IGBs) have been demonstrated to contain abundant solar wind-derived water (SW-H2O); however, little is known about its farside counterpart. Here, we report the water abundances and hydrogen isotope compositions and their distribution in farside IGBs collected by the Chang’e-6 mission to investigate the role of IGBs in the lunar surface water cycle. Farside IGBs are found to have water abundances of ~10–1,070 μg.g−1 with hydrogen isotopes (δD) ranging from –988‰ to >2000‰ and display typical SW-H2O hydration profiles. The SW-H2O hydration depths in farside IGBs are strikingly shallower than in nearside IGBs. Moreover, the hydration profiles are only found in mare IGBs, with none observed in non-mare IGBs, indicating that SW-H2O hydration in IGBs is likely composition dependent. These findings indicate that SW-H2O storage of IGBs exhibits a dichotomy distribution in lunar soils.

Date: 2025
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DOI: 10.1038/s41467-025-60388-y

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