For the first time, Chinese scientists and their US collaborators have been able to precisely measure the age of volcanic eruptions on the far side of the moon.

中國科學(xué)家及其美國合作者首次成功精確測量了月球背面火山噴發(fā)的年齡。

Previously this was only estimated through remote sensing observations.

此前，這一信息僅通過遙感觀測進行估算。

Two research teams led by scientists from the Chinese Academy of Sciences, based in Beijing and Guangzhou, used radiometric dating to analyse isotope decay in basalts, a type of volcanic rock brought back to Earth by China’s Chang’e-6 mission in June.

由中國科學(xué)院北京和廣州的科學(xué)家領(lǐng)導(dǎo)的兩支研究團隊，利用放射性定年法分析了玄武巖（由中國嫦娥六號任務(wù)于六月帶回地球的一種火山巖）中的同位素衰變。

Their studies, published on Friday in journals Nature and Science, both found that the moon’s oldest and deepest crater on its far side was volcanically active around 2.8 billion years ago.

他們的研究成果于周五分別在《自然》和《科學(xué)》期刊上發(fā)表，均發(fā)現(xiàn)月球背面最古老和最深的隕石坑在大約28億年前曾有火山活動。

In comparison, samples returned by the Apollo, Luna and Chang’e-5 missions – all from the near side – established that lunar volcanism occurred between 4 billion and 2 billion years ago.

與阿波羅、Luna和嫦娥五號任務(wù)從月球正面帶回的樣品相比，這些樣品證實月球火山活動發(fā)生在40億到20億年前。

The Nature paper highlighted that the 2.8 billion-year age was “surprisingly young” as volcanic activities on the far side were traditionally thought to have ended much earlier. Most volcanic eruptions were associated with the near side and believed to have ceased by around 3 billion years ago.

《自然》雜志的論文指出，28億年的年齡“出人意料地年輕”，因為傳統(tǒng)上認為月球背面的火山活動結(jié)束得更早。大多數(shù)火山噴發(fā)與月球正面有關(guān)，并被認為大約在30億年前已停止。

Meanwhile, authors of the Science paper were less surprised, noting that similar younger volcanism, such as the Chang’e-5 basalt samples measured at around 2 billion years old, had already suggested that lunar volcanism may have persisted longer than previously believed on both sides of the moon.

同時，《科學(xué)》雜志論文的作者不那么驚訝，他們指出，類似的年輕火山活動，如嫦娥五號玄武巖樣本測量出的約20億年的年齡，就已經(jīng)表明月球兩側(cè)的火山活動可能比之前認為的持續(xù)時間更長。

Qian Yuqi, a planetary geologist at the University of Hong Kong and a co-author of the Science paper, expressed his excitement about being part of the initial studies on the unique Chang’e-6 samples.

香港（特區(qū)）大學(xué)行星地質(zhì)學(xué)家、《科學(xué)》論文的合作者錢煜奇對參與對嫦娥六號樣本的初步研究感到非常興奮。
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He said there was a “high readiness” among scientists to study these valuable rocks, thanks to the expertise built up through analyses of Chang’e-5 samples in recent years.

他說，由于近年來對嫦娥五號樣品的分析積累了豐富的經(jīng)驗，科學(xué)家們對研究這些寶貴巖石的“準(zhǔn)備度很高”。

“The study of Chang’e-5 samples has led to an explosive growth in China’s planetary science community. Thanks to the Chang’e-5 and Chang’e-6 missions, we are now in a golden era for lunar and planetary science in China,” he said.

“對嫦娥五號樣本的研究促使中國行星科學(xué)界的爆炸式增長。感謝嫦娥五號和嫦娥六號任務(wù)，我們現(xiàn)在處于中國月球和行星科學(xué)的黃金時代，”他說。

Both studies analysed Chang’e-6 samples distributed to sext teams for initial pre-research. Last week, China’s national space agency officially opened up the first round of applications for domestic scientists to borrow the samples.

兩項研究均分析了嫦娥六號分發(fā)給選定團隊用于初步預(yù)研究的樣本。上周，中國國家航天局正式開啟了國內(nèi)科學(xué)家申請借用樣本的第一輪。

Earlier this year, China launched the complex, 53-day-long Chang’e-6 mission to collect rocks from the far side of the moon. The spacecraft scooped and drilled materials from the Apollo basin, located within the 2,500km-wide (1,553 mile-wide) South Pole-Aitken basin, and successfully brought nearly 2kg (4.4 pounds) of samples back to Earth.

今年早些時候，中國發(fā)射了復(fù)雜的、為期53天的嫦娥六號任務(wù)，以收集月球背面的巖石。航天器從南極-艾特肯盆地內(nèi)的阿波羅盆地收集并鉆取了材料，成功將近2公斤（4.4磅）的樣本帶回地球。

In September, preliminary findings from the Chang’e-6 samples were published in National Science Review. Researchers reported that the samples had a looser and more porous structure – among other unique characteristics – compared to those retrieved from the near side.

九月，嫦娥六號樣本的初步發(fā)現(xiàn)發(fā)表在《國家科學(xué)評論》上。研究人員報告稱，相較于從月球正面回收的樣本，這些樣本具有更松散和多孔的結(jié)構(gòu)——以及其他獨特特征。
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At the time, Jim Head, a planetary geologist at Brown University in Rhode Island and a long-time collaborator with Chinese scientists, congratulated the country on the mission’s success.

當(dāng)時，羅德島布朗大學(xué)的行星地質(zhì)學(xué)家、與中國科學(xué)家長期合作的吉姆·赫德，祝賀中國取得任務(wù)的成功。

“The Chang’e-6 mission was well worth the wait for the international community,” he said. “It made the scientific dreams of lunar and planetary scientists a reality.”

“嫦娥六號任務(wù)值得國際社會的等待，”他說?！八鼘崿F(xiàn)了月球和行星科學(xué)家們的科學(xué)夢想。”

Returning samples from the lunar far side and analysing them in high-precision labs on Earth offers a much deeper understanding of their nature, including age and formation processes, than is possible through remote sensing or in situ measurements on the moon, according to Head, who co-authored the Science paper.

根據(jù)這篇《科學(xué)》論文的合著者赫德的說法，從月球背面返回樣本并在地球上的高精度實驗室中進行分析，提供了比遙感或月球上的原位測量更深入的了解其性質(zhì)的機會，包括年齡和形成過程。

“Indeed, there are many reasons to suspect that the lunar far side differs in its history from the near side,” he said.

“實際上，有很多理由懷疑月球背面的歷史與正面不同，”他說。

In the current research, the two teams analysed 108 and 35 basalt fragments, respectively, to determine their ages. While most samples consistently dated to around 2.8 billion years old, the Beijing-based team reported an “outlier” in their Nature paper – a fragment with a high aluminium content that dated to about 4.2 billion years.

在當(dāng)前研究中，兩支團隊分別分析了108和35塊玄武巖碎片，以確定其年齡。盡管大多數(shù)樣本的一致測定年齡約為28億年，但北京研究團隊在《自然》論文中報告了一個“離群值”——一個含鋁量高的碎片，其年代約為42億年。

The team noted that at such an age, it was among the oldest lunar materials ever obtained, along with sext Apollo samples and a lunar meteorite recovered in Botswana in 1999 that dated to 4.36 billion years.

該研究團隊指出，這樣的年齡使其成為迄今為止獲得的最古老的月球材料之一，與某些阿波羅樣品以及1999年在博茨瓦納發(fā)現(xiàn)的月球隕石一起，其年代可追溯至43.6億年前。

After confirming it was likely that the fragment originated from the sampling region, the researchers concluded that volcanism on the far side of the moon persisted for more than 1.4 billion years.

在確認碎片很可能來自采樣區(qū)域后，研究人員得出結(jié)論，月球背面的火山活動持續(xù)了超過14億年。

Meanwhile, both groups found that the mantle source of the Chang’e-6 samples contained a low abundance of elements that produce radioactive heat, which is crucial for sustaining volcanic eruptions.

與此同時，兩個小組都發(fā)現(xiàn)嫦娥六號樣本的地幔源含有低豐度的能產(chǎn)生放射性熱量的元素，而這些元素對維持火山噴發(fā)至關(guān)重要。

This could help explain why the lunar far side had far fewer dark basalt plains than the near side, despite the South Pole-Aitken basin having the thinnest crust to facilitate volcanism, the researchers suggested.

研究人員認為，這可以幫助解釋為什么盡管南極-艾特肯盆地的地殼最薄，有利于火山活動，但月球的背面比正面擁有更少的黑色玄武巖平原。
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“We anticipate a tsunami of important new insights into lunar formation and evolution, as subsequent detailed analyses of the Chang’e-6 samples are reported in the literature,” Head said.

“我們預(yù)計，隨著對嫦娥六號樣本的詳細分析結(jié)果在文獻中發(fā)表，將會迎來關(guān)于月球形成和演化的重要新見解的浪潮，”赫德說。