China's Rover Finds Traces of Never-Before-Seen Basalt on The Moon

The rocks and dirt brought back by China's Chang'e 5 lunar rover point to new types of geology that are yet to be discovered.

There are seven different types of rock found on the Moon's surface. A new type of lunar basalt was created when the moon was still volcanically active.

This regolith is the youngest to be brought back from the moon so far, giving experts a look into a different time period than other samples, and helping them chart a tumultuous period of our neighbor's history.

The seven types of rock listed in the study are thought to have traveled somewhere else.

A wide range of crustal components from various sources would be transported to the Chang'e-5 landing site on the Moon.

The researchers looked for evidence of impact cratering and volcanic activity by sifting through the small particles. These types of rocks are similar to the ones on Earth.

The researchers say that three of the clasts were notable. The lunar rock has a mineralogy we haven't seen before on the moon, and probably represents a new type of lunar rock.

According to the study's authors, these rock particles may be associated with sites on the Moon up to 400 kilometers away from where they were picked up.

The young mare regions of the Moon are roughly 2 billion years old.

The conclusion is that these fragments came from parts of the Moon that we don't know about. We don't know much about volcanic eruptions.

The material in the samples was less exotic than expected. It's possible that scientists will have to rethink the way impact ejecta travels on the moon.

Chang'e 5 collected samples in the Mons Rmker region of the northern Oceanus Procellarum of the Moon, which will be useful in learning more about how the lunar surface evolved.

The research was published in a journal.