Meteorite reveals Martian secrets
7 Nov 2012 by Evoluted New Media
A meteorite that landed in the Moroccan desert 14 months ago is providing more clues about Mars, its planet of origin.
University of Alberta researchers are studying the Tissint meteorite which started out 600 million years ago as a relatively typical volcanic rock on the Red Planet’s surface, until it was launched off the planet by the impact of an asteroid.
“At the instant of that impact with Mars, a shock wave shot through the rock. Cracks and fissures within the rock were sealed instantly by the heat, trapping components of Mars’ atmosphere inside, and forming black, glassy spots,” said study leader Chris Herd.
The researchers speculate that for a period of between 700,000 and one million years, the rock floated through outer space, until July 2011 when it streaked through our atmosphere to land in Morocco. This is only the fifth time a Martian meteorite landing has been witnessed. The key reason this meteorite is of interest is because it was picked up just a few months after landing and was not subjected to weathering or contamination on this planet.
The rock’s Martian weathering involved water, meaning water was present on the surface of Mars within the past few hundred million years. However, there is no evidence from the meteorite that the water supported any life forms.
“Because the Martian rock was subjected to such intense heat, any water-born microbial life forms may have existed deep within cracks of the rock would have been destroyed,” added Herd.
Curiosity, NASA’s current Mars Rover mission is currently searching the Mars’ surface for more information about the red planet’s history. The team’s study makes a return mission to Mars that will bring rocks back to Earth all the more crucial.
“Martian rocks delivered to Earth by spacecraft would provide the best opportunity to see if life was ever clinging to the surface of Mars,” said Herd.
