On October 31, the world’s first 1:2.5 million map of the distribution of lunar rock types on the whole Moon, led by Shandong University, was released to the public.
This map divides the lunar surface material into three categories: lunar sea rocks, non-lunar sea rocks and special rocks.
A total of 17 rock types are represented, including 5 types of lunar sea basalts (containing 923 lava flow units), 7 types of non-lunar sea rocks (containing 1210 lithological units and 434 lithological outcrops) and 5 types of special rock outcrops (containing 115 lithological units and 779 lithological outcrops).
This research team, consisting of several institutions, has established a classification system for lunar surface rocks, based on the classification methods in lunar samples and integrating the information obtained from lunar remote sensing studies in recent years.
The research team summarized the characteristics of different rocks and the environments in which they occur.
Meanwhile, by developing lunar rock classification indexes, mapping process and methods, and legend, and applying the Geographic Information Science (GIS) platform, they finally completed this distribution map.
In addition, it is divided into two versions in Chinese and English, and will be officially released publicly by Geological Press in paper and electronic versions.
The related research was published in Science Bulletin.
