Early Solar System Records Preserved in Lunar Palaeoregolith Deposits

One of the principal scientific reasons for wanting to resume in situ exploration of the lunar surface is to access the record it contains of early Solar System history [1-3]. We argue that this record will be best preserved in ancient, buried regolith (‘palaeoregolith’) deposits, and that locating and sampling such deposits would be an important objective of future lunar exploration activities.