China Releases Comprehensive Lunar Geologic Map Based on Chang'e Missions

A Chinese research team has released a new global geologic map of the Moon, integrating exploration data collected from the Chang'e 1 through Chang'e 6 missions over the past decade. The comprehensive map catalogs 13,519 impact craters, 81 basins, 14 structural categories, and 17 rock types. Incorporating findings from Chang'e 5 rock samples, the map extends the known duration of lunar volcanism to roughly two billion years ago and revises estimates of key geochemical deposits, while introducing an autonomous national geological mapping standard.

The updated geologic map updates the global framework for lunar geological chronology and resource distribution, which previously relied primarily on historical data from U.S. and Soviet missions. It also establishes China's proprietary cartographic standards (T/GSC 011-2025), which are planned to serve as the baseline methodology for future Chinese deep-space exploration programs targeting Mars and asteroids.

A Chinese planetary geology research team has unveiled a new comprehensive geologic map of the Moon, integrating more than a decade of observational data from the Chang'e 1 through Chang'e 6 missions, according to a report by People's Daily. The newly compiled map identifies and categorizes 13,519 impact craters, 81 impact basins, 14 structural features, and 17 rock classifications across the lunar surface. The dataset incorporates findings from returned lunar samples, revising key elements of the established lunar chronological timeline that had long relied predominantly on data from Apollo and Luna missions. Most notably, radiometric dating from rocks returned by the Chang'e 5 mission has extended the recognized end of lunar volcanic activity from approximately three billion years ago to roughly two billion years ago. This one-billion-year extension has led researchers to systematically reconstruct the lunar geological timescale in combination with recent international isotopic dating studies. The mapping effort also provides updated assessments of lunar mineral resources, specifically KREEP terrain—rock enriched in potassium, rare earth elements, and phosphorus. Higher-resolution datasets revealed that KREEP materials are more widely distributed than previously estimated in older models. This finding holds implications for modeling the crystallization scale of the early lunar magma ocean, crustal thickness, and internal thermal evolution. In addition, researchers identified gabbro-norite within the South Pole-Aitken (SPA) basin and subdivided the ferroan norite suite into distinct rock types. The team reported that lithological mapping within the SPA basin provides direct remote-sensing evidence that material excavated by large impacts exhibits stratified excavation characteristics. The project establishes an autonomous planetary cartographic standard (T/GSC 011-2025), certified by the Geological Society of China. The system introduces specific color-coding principles, using brighter, lighter tones for younger features such as Copernican craters and deeper shades for older Aitkenian features, while applying distinct hues to KREEP deposits and mare basalts. Officials noted that this standardized cartography framework is intended to be applied to China's future geologic mapping of Mars, asteroids, and other celestial bodies.