Water abundance in the lunar farside mantle

Huicun He, Linxi Li, Sen Hu (), Yubing Gao, Liang Gao, Zhan Zhou, Mengfan Qiu, Disheng Zhou, Huanxin Liu, Ruiying Li, Jialong Hao, Hejiu Hui () and Yangting Lin ()
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Huicun He: Chinese Academy of Sciences
Linxi Li: Chinese Academy of Sciences
Sen Hu: Chinese Academy of Sciences
Yubing Gao: Chinese Academy of Sciences
Liang Gao: Chinese Academy of Sciences
Zhan Zhou: Chinese Academy of Sciences
Mengfan Qiu: Chinese Academy of Sciences
Disheng Zhou: Chinese Academy of Sciences
Huanxin Liu: Chinese Academy of Sciences
Ruiying Li: Chinese Academy of Sciences
Jialong Hao: Chinese Academy of Sciences
Hejiu Hui: Nanjing University
Yangting Lin: Chinese Academy of Sciences

Nature, 2025, vol. 643, issue 8071, 366-370

Abstract: Abstract The water contents of the lunar interior record important clues for understanding the formation and subsequent thermochemical evolution of the Moon1. The Chang’e-6 (CE6) mission returned samples from the South Pole–Aitken impact basin of the lunar farside2–4, providing an opportunity to study the water contents of the farside mantle. Here we report the water abundances and hydrogen isotope compositions of apatite and melt inclusions from CE6 mare basalt, derived from partial melting of the lunar mantle. The parent magma of CE6 mare basalt is estimated to have a water abundance of 15–168 μg g−1 with a δD value of −123 ± 167‰. Our estimate of water abundance of 1–1.5 μg g−1 for the mantle source indicates that the farside mantle is potentially drier than its nearside counterpart. This contrast thus suggests that the distribution of water in the interior of the Moon may exhibit a hemispheric dichotomy similar to numerous surface features5. The new estimate for the lunar farside mantle represents a landmark for estimating the water abundance of the bulk silicate Moon, providing critical constraints on the giant impact origin hypothesis6–8 and the subsequent evolution of the Moon for which the role of water is central1,9.

Date: 2025
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DOI: 10.1038/s41586-025-08870-x

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