¹Alexander M. Kling, ¹Michelle S. Thompson
Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta (in Press) Open Access Link to Article [https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gca.2026.02.016]
¹Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN 47907, USA
Copyright Elsevier

Solar wind neon is incorporated into lunar regolith grains and other planetary materials via solar wind implantation. Understanding the abundance of neon relative to other solar wind gases and its trapping and storage within planetary materials can inform on both parent body processing and volatile cycling. Microstructural defects in lunar regolith grains, including vesicles formed by space weathering processes, have previously been identified to store other solar wind-derived volatiles such as hydrogen, water, and helium. Here, we use transmission electron microscopy and electron energy loss spectroscopy to identify the presence of solar wind neon and quantify its abundance in vesicles within a space weathered lunar regolith grain. The direct observation of solar wind neon trapped in vesicles offers a new understanding of the space weathering history of lunar regolith grains and other planetary materials rich in solar wind gases. The storage of solar wind neon in nanoscale vesicles also has implications for its retention, diffusivity, and fractionation which may affect interpretations of the exposure and processing histories of lunar and other planetary materials as derived from noble gas analyses.