Chang’e-6 farside anorthosites reveal globally homogeneous lunar magma ocean solidification

Ferroan anorthosites (FANs) reflect the nature of the Moon’s crust formed during the late-stage lunar magma ocean (LMO). Remote sensing suggests a hemispheric dichotomy in crustal composition, with the farside anorthositic highlands being more magnesian than the nearside. Lacking direct compositional and chronological constraints from farside anorthosites, whether this crustal dichotomy reflects asynchronous LMO solidification or post-LMO crustal reworking remains uncertain. Here we present the first integrated petrological, geochemical, and geochronological study of farside anorthosite clasts returned by the Chang'e-6 mission. These clasts exhibit both mineralogical and compositional similarity with nearside Apollo FANs, supporting a globally homogeneous LMO-derived primary crust. A zircon-bearing anorthosite domain contains recrystallised plagioclase enriched in rare earth elements (REE), thorium, and phosphorus, suggesting thermal reworking and metasomatism by a KREEP (potassium, REE, and phosphorus)-rich Mg-suite intrusion. High-precision lead-lead dating of zircon constrains this reworking event to 4,410 ± 8 Ma, establishing the first lower bound for farside LMO solidification. These findings reveal a near-synchronous LMO solidification prior to 4.41 Ga and help to further understand the origin of the crustal dichotomy and the Moon’s early differentiation history.