Redox processes on the lunar surface: Current status and progress (Open Access)--颗粒学报PARTICUOLOGY

Wang, X., Cao, Z., Li, C., Hu, Z., Li, R., Li, Y., & Miao, B. (2025). Redox processes on the lunar surface: Current status and progress. Particuology, 103, 267-276. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.partic.2025.06.003

Redox processes on the lunar surface: Current status and progress (Open Access)

Xi Wang^{a b}, Zhi Cao^c, Chen Li^{b d}, Zhenhao Hu^b, Rui Li^b, Yang Li^b *, Bingkui Miao^a *

a Institution of Meteorites and Planetary Materials Research, Guilin University of Technology, Guilin, 541004, China
b Center for Lunar and Planetary Sciences, Institute of Geochemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guiyang, 550081, China
c Planetary Environmental and Astrobiological Research Laboratory, School of Atmospheric Sciences, Sun Yat-Sen University, Zhuhai, 519082, China
d School of Engineering, Yunnan University, Kunming, 650500, China

10.1016/j.partic.2025.06.003

Volume 103, August 2025, Pages 267-276

Received 6 May 2025, Revised 5 June 2025, Accepted 6 June 2025, Available online 13 June 2025, Version of Record 18 June 2025.

E-mail: liyang@mail.gyig.ac.cn; miaobk@glut.edu.cn

Highlights

• A multi-scale redox dynamics framework for the lunar surface is established.

• A new redox definition is proposed, offering a novel perspective for studying airless body space weathering.

• Lunar surface evolution theory is refined by considering multi-factor impacts across various spatiotemporal scales.

Abstract

The lunar regolith records signatures of material‒energy interactions with both the solar system and beyond. Traditional space weathering processes, based on laboratory analyses and remote-sensing data, emphasize a reduction-dominated paradigm in which nanophase metallic iron (np-Fe⁰) formation and spectral reddening are primarily driven by micrometeorite impacts and solar wind irradiation. However, emerging evidence of complex oxidation processes, including impact-generated magnetite, disproportionation reactions, and oxidation signatures potentially induced by Earth's magnetotail, challenges this conventional view. These conflicting evolutionary signatures indicate that existing models may fail to capture the full spectrum of oxidation and reduction pathways involved in lunar space weathering. Integrating laboratory analyses and remote-sensing data, we here construct a multi-scale redox dynamics framework that elucidates three critical reaction processes: vapor deposition, in situ reduction, and self-redox reactions. This framework reveals a spatiotemporal decoupling between globally sustained reduction and localized, episodic oxidation events. This review provides key constraints for understanding the complex lunar surface evolution mechanisms and long-term evolution of airless planetary bodies.

Graphical abstract

Keywords

Redox processes; Lunar soil; Vapor deposition; In situ reduction; Self-redox reactions

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