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Garnet pyroxenite at mid-mantle depths as a source of young lunar magmatism.

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Bibliographic Details
Title: Garnet pyroxenite at mid-mantle depths as a source of young lunar magmatism.
Authors: Ji, Dian1 (AUTHOR) dj56@rice.edu, Dasgupta, Rajdeep1 (AUTHOR)
Source: Earth & Planetary Science Letters. Sep2026, Vol. 690, pN.PAG-N.PAG. 1p.
Subjects: Pyroxenite, Magmatism, Chemistry experiments, Trace elements
Abstract: • High P - T experiments show parental melt of CE-5 basalt coexists with garnet and clinopyroxene. • Trace element modeling suggests the garnet is required in the CE-5 mantle source. • The presence of garnet may be associated with the plagioclase-bearing mantle overturn. • Garnet-pyroxenite in the mid-mantle depth is the most likely source of CE-5 basalts. As the youngest returned mare basalt to date, deciphering the petrogenesis of Chang'e-5 (CE-5) basalts could assist us in understanding the late-stage lunar mantle evolution. However, the lithology of the CE-5 mantle is still controversial. Here, we present a joint study of high pressure-temperature major element phase equilibria using laboratory experiments and trace element modeling, and show that garnet is present in the source of young mare basalts on the Moon. Our high-pressure-temperature experiments approaching the multiple saturation point of the putative parental melt compositions of young CE-5 basalt show garnet and clinopyroxene coexisting with the quenched silicate melt. Trace element modeling also confirms that small amounts of garnet in the mantle source are required to reconcile the rare-earth element pattern of the CE-5 basalts, regardless of whether the CE-5 basalts were the direct mantle-melting products or produced through extensive fractional crystallization of a primitive basalt. The existence of garnet in the source either implies that lunar mantle overturn played a crucial role in contributing to the lunar mantle heterogeneity, creating a garnet-clinopyroxenitic mantle source of these young mare basalts that survived the subsequent mantle evolution, or a late-stage process introduced fertile material into the deep mantle, and such geodynamic processes within the lunar interior may have continued until 2 Ga. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
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Abstract:• High P - T experiments show parental melt of CE-5 basalt coexists with garnet and clinopyroxene. • Trace element modeling suggests the garnet is required in the CE-5 mantle source. • The presence of garnet may be associated with the plagioclase-bearing mantle overturn. • Garnet-pyroxenite in the mid-mantle depth is the most likely source of CE-5 basalts. As the youngest returned mare basalt to date, deciphering the petrogenesis of Chang'e-5 (CE-5) basalts could assist us in understanding the late-stage lunar mantle evolution. However, the lithology of the CE-5 mantle is still controversial. Here, we present a joint study of high pressure-temperature major element phase equilibria using laboratory experiments and trace element modeling, and show that garnet is present in the source of young mare basalts on the Moon. Our high-pressure-temperature experiments approaching the multiple saturation point of the putative parental melt compositions of young CE-5 basalt show garnet and clinopyroxene coexisting with the quenched silicate melt. Trace element modeling also confirms that small amounts of garnet in the mantle source are required to reconcile the rare-earth element pattern of the CE-5 basalts, regardless of whether the CE-5 basalts were the direct mantle-melting products or produced through extensive fractional crystallization of a primitive basalt. The existence of garnet in the source either implies that lunar mantle overturn played a crucial role in contributing to the lunar mantle heterogeneity, creating a garnet-clinopyroxenitic mantle source of these young mare basalts that survived the subsequent mantle evolution, or a late-stage process introduced fertile material into the deep mantle, and such geodynamic processes within the lunar interior may have continued until 2 Ga. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
ISSN:0012821X
DOI:10.1016/j.epsl.2026.120133