The Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) has released geological maps of the Moon with the highest resolution to date. More than a decade after researchers began working on the project, the Geological Atlas of the Lunar Globe was released and features a total of 12,341 craters, 81 basins and 17 rock types. The maps were produced at a scale of 1:2.5 million.
“Every question in geology begins with observing a geological map. The new lunar atlas is truly a resource for the whole world,” said Ross Mitchell, geophysicist at the CAS Institute of Geology and Geophysics in Beijing.
China will use these maps to continue developing the lunar missions it has planned, according to the website Nature. “The maps will also be beneficial to other countries as they carry out their own lunar missions,” said Jianzhong Liu, a geochemist at the CAS Institute of Geochemistry in Guiyang and co-leader of the project.
With the new updated atlas, it is expected that scientists will be able to better understand the history of the Moon, as well as evaluate lunar resources and carry out comparative geological studies. Jianzhong Liu hopes that this map “will allow us to help choose the location of future missions and even where to build a lunar research base.”
In Europe, reactions also emerged. Carolyn van der Bogert, a planetary geologist at the University of Münster in Germany, says she was “impressed by the amount of work” Chinese colleagues put into compiling the new atlas. “We are looking forward to being able to interact with the map in a very detailed way,” said the German geologist.
The atlas is available in Mandarin and English, and was developed using data from China’s lunar exploration program, related to the Chang’e-1 mission (space probe), which mapped the lunar surface in orbit between 2007 and 2009. “ Chang’e-1’s camera conducted the observation of lunar topography and geological structures, while the imaging spectrometer played a key role in identifying different types of rocks,” explained Jianzhong Liu.
Later, the Chang’e-3 and Chang’e-4 missions in 2013 and 2019, respectively, helped verify the accuracy of Chang’e-1’s data.
