月壤中的氦-3

除了极少数非常陡峭的山脉与撞击坑和火山通道的峭壁外，整个月球表面几乎都被一层厚度不等的月尘、岩屑和岩块的混合堆积物即月壤所覆盖。由于月球无大气层等特殊环境，太阳光长驱直入，太阳风粒子直接注入到月壤细小颗粒上使月壤中富含稀有气体等太阳风粒子组分。本文在系统阐述月壤的形成过程与形成机制的基础上，分析了月壤中稀有气体的来源及其浓度与月壤的成熟度、月壤颗粒大小、月壤矿物组成和化学成分的相关关系，进而利用已有的探测数据和分析结果，对月壤中氦-3资源的开发利用前景进行了初步评估。     

嫦娥五号着陆区月壤的太空风化改造特征

月壤是月球科学与工程探测的主要目标物和承载物，也是人类认识月球的主要信息来源。太空风化作用是决定月壤形成，特别是演化过程的关键因素。本文系统总结了近两年来围绕嫦娥五号着陆区月壤的太空风化改造特征所取得的阶段性研究进展，特别是单质金属铁的多种成因机制、硫化物的风化改造特征和太阳风成因水等。上述研究成果的取得，为准确认识月壤特性，反演月壤形成与时空演化历史以及评估月壤资源特性奠定了良好的基础。最后结合我国后续月球探测工程规划，提出了新的研究方向与目标。     

月球陨石稀有气体和宇宙暴露年龄研究进展与展望

稀有气体及宇宙射线暴露(CRE)年龄是研究月球陨石辐射历史的重要媒介,其能够反演陨石所经历的表土层地质过程。本文收集了月球陨石的所有稀有气体浓度、同位素比值和CRE年龄数据,结合前人研究成果进行了对比分析,结果显示,月球陨石角砾岩和非角砾岩稀有气体分别具有"三峰三谷"式和"两峰"式分配模式,且稀有气体浓度从非角砾岩、角砾岩到表土角砾岩逐渐增高;月球陨石不存在太阳高能粒子组分(SEP),但存在太阳风分馏组分(FSW)的可能;月球陨石具有两个不同的CRE年龄,分别为指代地月转移时间的T_(4π)年龄和陨石在表土层受到宇宙射线辐射累积时间的T_(2π)年龄。表土角砾岩和非表土角砾岩的T_(2π)年龄分别约为400~1000 Ma和28~60 Ma,而月球陨石的T_(4π)年龄为(0.4±0.9)Ma;月球陨石在表土层中的埋深为0~7.5 m,其宇宙射线辐射起始年龄普遍大于T_(2π)年龄。未来月球陨石稀有气体研究有望在宇宙成因稀有气体_(2π)产率模型、月球原生稀有气体和紫外激光原位稀有气体测试方法方面取得进展。     

月壤的物理和机械性质

月壤是在O2、水、风和生命活动都不存在的情况下，由陨石和微陨石撞击、宇宙射线和太阳风轰击、月表温差导致岩石热胀冷缩破碎等因素的共同作用下形成的。月壤独特的形成过程，加上独特的月表环境，使月壤在粒度分布、颗粒形态、颗粒比重、孔隙比和孔隙率、电性和电磁性质、压缩性、抗剪性、承载力等方面均与地球土壤存在较大差异，这些参数的平均值和最佳估计值，可以作为月表机械设计和操作、宇航员装备设计、月球着陆场选址的主要依据，对月球资源开发和利用以及月球基地建设具有极其重要的意义。     

月壤颗粒微观环带的太空风化成因

太空风化是迄今31亿年以来影响月球表面物质演化过程的主要因素,主要包括陨石、微陨石的轰击,太阳风粒子的注入,太阳/银河宇宙射线的辐射以及周期性的加热作用等。通过深入剖析太阳风粒子的注入与溅射、微陨石轰击的蒸发与沉积、宇宙射线辐射的辐射损伤等过程的作用机理,探讨了不同太空风化过程对矿物颗粒环带厚度、化学组成、晶体结构等特征的影响,认为微陨石轰击与太阳风注入是形成月壤颗粒微观环带的主导因素,宇宙射线辐射与周期性加热的影响可忽略不计。进一步结合非晶质环带、富内含物环带、多环环带以及小泡环带等月壤颗粒主要环带的基本特征,在总结和对比分析各类型环带的厚度、结构以及化学组成特征基础上,对不同类型环带的成因进行初步推断,认为非晶质环带、小泡环带以及多环环带的内层环带具有太阳风作用特征,而富内含物环带、多环环带的外层环带则具有微陨石轰击的成因特征。根据目前单纯依靠环带的化学组成分析解释环带成因存在的不足,指出了通过补充分析矿物晶体结构在模拟太空风化实验过程中的变化特征来研究环带成因的新思路。     

月壤厚度的研究方法与进展

月壤厚度的研究对未来月球探测、登月与月球资源开发均具有十分重要的意义。它是恢复月球起源和演化历史的重要参数,也是估算月球3He资源量的必要前提。本文将月壤厚度的研究方法归纳为直接和间接两类,直接方法主要是利用月震数据对月壤厚度进行推算,间接方法包括基于撞击坑形态、分布以及地基雷达遥感数据估算月壤厚度两种。随着定量微波遥感的发展,结合我国嫦娥探月工程的实施,利用高分辨率被动微波遥感亮温反演月壤厚度为月壤厚度的研究指出一个新的方向。     

月球电离层探测与研究

从20世纪60年代到本世纪初,人类发射了一系列绕月飞船,对月球大气和月球电离层进行研究。科学家发现,月球电离层主要出现在向日面。在表面几百米高度范围内,由太阳辐射导致的光致电离使得月球向日面出现密度不超过10^10／m2的电离层等离子体。进一步研究表明,由于月球没有内禀磁场,月球电离层与太阳风中的行星际电场耦合在一起,时刻处在“飘动”中。电离层密度的变化与月相、当地的月表剩磁、太阳风条件、当地的月壤特性等相联系。     

月表太阳风成因水的研究现状和意义

水是生命活动的基础,也是天体演化的重要部分。月球一直被认为是"无水"星体,但这一观点被最新的研究成果推翻。月球遥感红外光谱和Apollo样品分析结果均证实了月球表面能通过太阳风质子与月壤矿物相互作用来产生OH甚至是H2O。为探讨其反应过程,相关理论分析和离子注入模拟实验等研究已逐步开展。但是,目前对于太阳风成因水的成因机制,形成时的影响因素,产生后在月表的赋存、迁移和保留机制仍缺乏系统研究。针对这些问题,未来立足于嫦娥五号样品分析,建立月球表面太阳风成因水的形成和迁移运动的模型将会是推进月球水研究的重要部分。这不仅能为月球水资源开发利用提供线索,还可能为太阳系内其他无大气类地行星水来源和演化研究提供参考。正北京100049;3.中国科学院太空制造技术重点实验室,北京100094;4.中国科学院地球化学研究所环境地球化学国家重点实验室,贵州贵阳550081)     

月球同位素地质年代学与月球演化

同位素地质年代学是月球形成与演化研究的重要工具。目前对月岩和月球陨石的研究积累了大量的同位素年代学资料,其测试的主要方法包括K—Ar、Ar_Ar、Rh-sr、Sm—Nd、Lu—Hf、Re-0s、Pb—Pb和U—Pb等。根据目前获得的资料,本文对月球上不同类型岩石的形成年龄进行了总结,发现月球高地岩石主要形成于45～38亿年,而月海玄武岩相对年轻,大致形成于38～31亿年。根据这-年代资料,结合对月岩样品进行的短半衰期Hf-W与Sin-Nd同位素体系的研究结果,认为月球大致形成于45亿年,其后开始由岩浆海导致的内部核-幔-壳的分异,岩浆结晶的低密度斜长岩构成最初的月壳,而密度大的岩石构成月幔,而此月幔则成为后来月海玄武岩的主要岩浆源区。同时指出了当前月岩同位素地质年代学存在的问题,并根据技术进展的情况,对未来月岩同位素年代学的发展趋势作了全面的分析．     

月壤中纳米金属铁的太空风化成因及模拟方法分析

月壤中普遍存在着大量由太空风化作用产生的纳米金属铁,这些纳米金属铁在一定程度上改变了月球表面的物理、化学和光学特征.纳米金属铁在月壤中主要赋存于胶结质玻璃相中和月壤颗粒的表面,胶结质玻璃相的纳米金属铁起源于微陨石轰击富含太阳风氢粒子的月壤产生的高温熔融还原作用,颗粒表面的纳米金属铁来自微陨石轰击引起的蒸发沉积作用和太阳...     

Noble Gases in the Lunar Regolith

The most fundamental character of lunar soil is its high concentrations of solar-wind-implanted elements, and the concentrations and behavior of the noble gases He, Ne, Ar, and Xe, which provide unique and extensive information about a broad range of fundamental problems. In this paper, the authors studied the forming mechanism of lunar regolith, and proposed that most of the noble gases in lunar regolith come from the solar wind. Meteoroid bombardment controls the maturity of lunar soil, with the degree of maturation decreasing with grain size; the concentrations of the noble gases would be of slight variation with the depth of lunar soil but tend to decrease with grain size. In addition, the concentrations of noble gases in lunar soil also show a close relationship with its mineral and chemical compositions. The utilization prospects of the noble gas ^3He in lunar regolith will be further discussed.     

Do lunar and meteoritic archives record temporal variations in the composition of solar wind noble gases and nitrogen? A reassessment in the light of Genesis data

Since about half a century samples from the lunar and asteroidal regoliths been used to derive information about elemental and isotopic composition and other properties of the present and past solar wind, predominantly for the noble gases and nitrogen. Secular changes of several important compositional parameters in the solar wind were proposed, as was a likely secular decrease of the solar wind flux. In 2004 NASA’s Genesis mission returned samples which had been exposed to the solar wind for almost 2.5 years. Their analyses resulted in an unprecendented accuracy for the isotopic and elemental composition of several elements in the solar wind, including noble gases, O and N. The Genesis data therefore also allow to re-evaluate the lunar and meteorite data, which is done here. In particular, claims for long-term changes of solar wind composition are reviewed.Outermost grain layers from relatively recently irradiated lunar regolith samples conserve the true isotopic ratios of implanted solar wind species. This conclusion had been made before Genesis based on the agreement of He and Ne isotopic data measured in the aluminum foils exposed to the solar wind on the Moon during the Apollo missions with data obtained in the first gas release fractions of stepwise in-vacuo etch experiments. Genesis data allowed to strengthen this conclusion and to extend it to all five noble gases. Minor variations in the isotopic compositions of implanted solar noble gases between relatively recently irradiated samples (<100 Ma) and samples irradiated billions of years ago are very likely the result of isotopic fractionation processes that happened after trapping of the gases rather than indicative of true secular changes in the solar wind composition. This is particularly important for the ³He/⁴He ratio, whose constancy over billions of years indicates that hardly any ³He produced as transient product of the pp-chains has been mixed from the solar interior into its outer convective zone. The He isotopic composition measured in the present-day solar wind therefore is identical to the (D + ³He)/⁴He ratio at the start of the suns’s main sequence phase and hence can be used to determine the protosolar D/H ratio.Genesis settled the long-standing controversy on the isotopic composition of nitrogen in lunar regolith samples. The ¹⁵N/¹⁴N ratio in the solar wind as measured by Genesis is lower than in any lunar sample. This proves that nitrogen in regolith samples is dominated by non-solar sources. A postulated secular increase of ¹⁵N/¹⁴N by some 30% over the past few Ga is not tenable any longer. Genesis also provided accurate data on the isotopic composition of oxygen in the solar wind, invaluable for cosmochemisty. These data superseded but essentially confirmed one value – and disproved a second one – derived from lunar regolith samples shortly prior to Genesis.Genesis also confirmed prior conclusions that lunar regolith samples essentially conserve the true elemental ratios of the heavy noble gases in the solar wind (Ar/Kr, Kr/Xe). Several secular changes of elemental abundances of noble gases in the solar wind had been proposed based on lunar and meteoritic data. I argue here that lunar data – in concert with Genesis – provide convincing evidence only for a long-term decrease of the Kr/Xe ratio by almost a factor of two over the past several Ga. It appears that the enhancement of abundances of elements with a low first ionisation potential in the solar wind (FIP effect) changed with time.Finally, Genesis allows a somewhat improved comparison of the present-day flux of solar wind Kr and Xe with the total amount of heavy solar wind noble gases in the lunar regolith. It remains unclear whether the past solar wind flux has been several times higher on average than it is today.     

History and origin of aubrites

The cosmic ray exposure (CRE) ages of aubrites are among the longest of stone meteorites. New aubrites have been recovered in Antarctica, and these meteorites permit a substantial extension of the database on CRE ages, compositional characteristics, and regolith histories. We report He, Ne, and Ar isotopic abundances of nine aubrites and discuss the compositional data, the CRE ages, and regolith histories of this class of achondrites. A Ne three-isotope correlation reveals a solar-type ratio of ²⁰Ne/²²Ne = 12.1, which is distinct from the present solar wind composition and lower than most ratios observed on the lunar surface. For some aubrites, the cosmic ray-produced noble gas abundances include components produced on the surface of the parent object. The Kr isotopic systematics reveal significant neutron-capture-produced excesses in four aubrites, which is consistent with Sm and Gd isotopic anomalies previously documented in some aubrites. The nominal CRE ages confirm a non-uniform distribution of exposure times, but the evidence for a CRE age cluster appears doubtful. Six meteorites are regolith breccias with solar-type noble gases, and the observed neutron effects indicate a regolith history. ALH aubrites, which were recovered from the same location and are considered to represent a multiple fall, yield differing nominal CRE ages and, if paired, document distinct precompaction histories.     

Mechanical characteristics of a lunar regolith simulant at low confining pressure

Manned lunar exploration has recently attracted renewed interest. This includes the NASA Constellation program to return humans to the Moon by 2020, the ESA Aurora program which may use the Moon as a way station to prepare for major interplanetary exploration by 2025, and the PRC program to send a human to the Moon by 2030 and build a temporary manned lunar base by 2040. One of the problems demanding a solution is the stresses on the mechanical characteristics of the lunar regolith under the microgravity environment. The gravity on the Moon is about 1/6 that on Earth. The regolith is subject to very low confining stresses under a microgravity environment and the mechanical properties can change correspondingly. Because of the limited amount of lunar regolith brought back to Earth by the Apollo missions, a lunar regolith simulant was developed using silicon carbide to investigate the properties of the lunar regolith. Based on triaxial tests, this study analyzed the mechanical properties of the lunar regolith simulant at low stresses including the shear strength, peak strength and dilatation angle. The research results provide useful information on lunar regolith characteristics for astronauts returning to the Moon and for building a temporary manned lunar base.     

月球某些资源的开发利用前景

21世纪月球探测的主要趋势是建立月球基地，开发利用月球的矿产资源，能源和特殊环境，为人类社会的可持续发展发挥长期而有效的支撑作用，通过对月海玄武岩中的钛铁矿，克里普岩中的U，Th,REE和月壤中的拟－3在月面的含量与分布的系统分析，月海玄武碉中蕴藏有极丰富的钛铁矿，TiO2总资源量超过70万亿t，钛铁矿还是月球基地生产水和火箭燃料的主要原料；克里普岩是未来月球探测与研究的热点之一，其蕴藏有巨量的铀，钍，钾，磷和稀土元素资源；月壤长期受到太阳风的辐射，使其蕴藏有极其丰富的氢，氦，氧，氮等气体资源，其中氦－3的资源量大于100万t，它是一种可供人类社会长期使用的，安全，清洁，高效，廉价的核聚变发电燃料，其含量与月壤的化学成分，矿物组分，颗粒大小等有密切的关系。     

Solar wind helium, neon, and argon isotopic and elemental composition: Data from the metallic glass flown on NASA’s Genesis mission

Solar wind (SW) helium, neon, and argon trapped in a bulk metallic glass (BMG) target flown on NASA’s Genesis mission were analyzed for their bulk composition and depth-dependent distribution. The bulk isotopic and elemental composition for all three elements is in good agreement with the mean values observed in the Apollo Solar Wind Composition (SWC) experiment. Conversely, the He fluence derived from the BMG is up to 30% lower than values reported from other Genesis bulk targets or in-situ measurements during the exposure period. SRIM implantation simulations using a uniform isotopic composition and the observed bulk velocity histogram during exposure reproduces the Ne and Ar isotopic variations with depth within the BMG in a way which is generally consistent with observations. The similarity of the BMG release patterns with the depth-dependent distributions of trapped solar He, Ne, and Ar found in lunar and asteroidal regolith samples shows that also the solar noble gas record of extraterrestrial samples can be explained by mass separation of implanted SW ions with depth. Consequently, we conclude that a second solar noble gas component in lunar samples, referred to as the “SEP” component, is not needed. On the other hand, a small fraction of the total solar gas in the BMG released from shallow depths is markedly enriched in the light isotopes relative to predictions from implantation simulations with a uniform isotopic composition. Contributions from a neutral solar or interstellar component are too small to explain this shallow sited gas. We tentatively attribute this superficially implanted gas to low-speed, current-sheet related SW, which was fractionated in the corona due to inefficient Coulomb drag. This fractionation process could also explain relatively high Ne/Ar elemental ratios in the same initial gas fraction.     

Microscopic contact model of lunar regolith for high efficiency discrete element analyses

The grains of lunar regolith are characterized with rough surfaces, angular shapes and mutual adhesions due to short-range interactions. These features control the macroscopic mechanical behavior of lunar regolith but have not been completely captured by contact models in previous Discrete Element Method (DEM) analyses. In this paper, a simplified two-dimensional microscopic contact model is proposed for high efficiency DEM analyses of lunar regolith. The model consists of three components in the normal, tangential and rolling directions respectively, plus two new parameters. A shape parameter is used to control the rolling resistance ability at the contact area between two particles to capture the features of grain shape and interlocking. The second parameter, micro-separation, which denotes the nominal minimum distance between the molecules of the two contacting particles, is introduced to account for van der Waals force as the major component of the short-range interactions that contribute to the adhesion of regolith grains in lunar environment conditions. The novel model has been implemented in a two-dimensional DEM code for numerical simulations of biaxial compression tests on lunar regolith. The effects of interparticle friction, grain shape, lunar environment conditions and void ratio on the strength of lunar regolith were numerically investigated. The results show that soils in the simulated lunar environment exhibit greater strength and more apparent strain-softening and shear dilatancy than on the Earth. The proposed model can capture the main features of the mechanical behavior of lunar regolith (apparent cohesion and high peak friction angle) and a wide range of strength indices can be obtained by the contact model.     

非均匀月壤介质的被动微波辐射传输模拟

基于非均匀月壤物理模型和辐射传输方程,模拟月壤介质中的微波辐射传输特性,探讨频率、月壤厚度等与月表亮温的关系。结果表明:在低频段,月壤微波辐射亮温的动态变化范围较大,可探测的月壤厚度大,3 GHz时的最大可探测月壤厚度达12.4 m;在高频段对应的可探测月壤厚度较小,特别是从50GHz往后的频率段内,最大可探测月壤厚度均小于2 m。不同频率的亮温-厚度变化曲线没有交叉点,且频率越高,所能探测的月壤厚度越小。根据模拟结果,建立了月壤厚度与亮温的查找表。基于查找表,利用单个波段的亮温数据即可得到月壤厚度信息。     

基于FDTD的月壤分层雷达探测正演模拟

“嫦娥三号”巡视器上搭载的测月雷达通过500 MHz频率的天线,对巡视路线上的月壳浅层结构进行剖面式观测,能探测到月球地底下30 m深土壤层的结构。为了更好地分析测月雷达的探测结果,文中对月壤分层进行正演模拟,月岩层的介电常数采用与“嫦娥三号”登月点位置最近的Apollo 15的电性参数近似代替,月壤的介电常数是一个和密度相关的值且随深度的变化而变化。根据以上参数建立模型,基于时域有限差分（FDTD）原理,利用GprMax对月壤分层结构进行模拟,建立的模型包括月表介电常数随深度变化二层模型和月岩层存在下界面三层模型,并对其波形特征进行分析,找到月壤层次划分的一般规律,对“嫦娥三号”测月雷达数据的分析提供理论依据。