Native niobium in the regolith from the Mare Crisium

Abstract

A new mineral phase was discovered in the course of studies at the Institute of Geology of Ore Deposits, Petrography, Mineralogy, and Geochemistry (IGEM) of fine-grained fractions of the lunar regolith delivered to the Earth by the Luna 16, Luna 20, and Luna 24 automatic stations. The grain of native niobium was identified in the regolith sample from the Mare Crisium. Presumably, this phase was formed during the fractioning process in a gas–plasma cloud under an impact event on the Moon.