What a Martian meteorite can teach us about Earth's origins



What has Iceland in common with Mars?

Not as much these days. But it's feasible that the Red Planet's crust resembled Iceland's in terms of thickness more than 4.5 billion years ago. The information about our planet that was lost over billions of years of geological movement may be discovered in these ancient martian shards, which might also help explain why Mars did not grow into a planet that supports a wide variety of life.

This new research on Earth's past, conducted by a multinational team that includes a researcher from the NAU, was published today in Nature Communications. The paper describes how the 4.48 billion year old meteorite known as Black Beauty's likely martian origin was discovered. One of the oldest locations of Mars is where it originated.

According to Valerie Payré, a postdoctoral researcher at the Department of Astronomy and Planetary Science, "This meteorite captured the earliest stage of the evolution of Mars and, by extension, of all terrestrial planets, including the Earth." Observing such situations in highly ancient terrains on Mars provides a unique window into the ancient Earth surface that we lost a long time ago, since the Earth lost its old surface mostly owing to plate tectonics.

The group, under the direction of Anthony Lagain from Curtin University in Australia, looked for the place where a martian meteorite originated (officially named NWA — Northwest Africa — 7034 for where it was found on Earth). This meteorite preserved the early stage of Mars' history and its chemistry suggests that Mars formerly experienced volcanic activity similar to that on Earth. The source location and geological context of this material are unknown, despite the fact that it was blasted from the surface of Mars five to ten million years ago as a result of an asteroid collision.

This team examined Black Beauty's chemical and physical characteristics to establish its origin, and they got to the conclusion that it originated from Terra Cimmeria-Sirenum, one of Mars' oldest areas. It could have a surface that resembles the continents of Earth. Finding the ideal impact crater might be difficult on planets with extensive craters like Mars. In a prior work, Lagain's team created a crater recognition system that analyzes high-resolution photos of Mars' surface to locate tiny impact craters. The program discovered around 90 million craters with a diameter of up to 50 meters. By excavating ejecta from an earlier crater known as Khujirt, the Karratha crater was identified as the most likely ejection location in this research.

Ten years before NASA's Mars Sample Return mission is scheduled to send back samples collected by the Perseverance rover currently exploring the Jezero crater, Lagain, a research fellow in the School of Earth and Planetary Sciences at Curtin, said, "For the first time, we know the geological context of the only brecciated Martian sample available on Earth. "This discovery cleared the door to find the ejection location of other Martian meteorites, allowing us to construct the most complete picture of the geological history of the Red Planet."

To ascertain if Earth and Mars have a shared history that includes both a continent-like and oceanic crust, Payré investigates the makeup and origin of Mars' crust. She examines if Mars has any evidence of volcanic activity resembling that of Iceland using orbital images taken in this area.

The origin of these incredible ancient bits might inspire future rover and space missions to study the Terra Sirenum-Cimmeria area, which she claimed holds the key to understanding Mars' crust complexity and potentially the development of the Earth as well. "This work paves the way to find the ejection site of other martian meteorites that will provide the most thorough view of the geological history of Mars and will answer one of the most fascinating questions: why Mars, now dry and cold, evolved so differently from Earth, a flourishing planet for life?"

To find impact craters surrounding Mercury and the Moon, the other two terrestrial planets, the scientists modified their method. This may be utilized to resolve their geographic past and provide key insights into how they formed and developed. This research serves as a foundation for further studies of the solar system.

Northern Arizona University

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Do You Sleep on Your Back or Side? Here's The Research on 'Optimal' Sleep Positions

Image
William Dement, a renowned sleep researcher at Stanford University, is quoted as saying that after 50 years of study, the only reason he can think of for why we sleep is "because we become sleepy." Sleep certainly matters for our health and wellbeing even though it may be, as one researcher put it, "the sole major habit in quest of a function." Do we, however, have it right? What do studies on sleeping positions say? Is there a proper sleeping position? The majority of people favor sleeping on their side. This is encouraging news because people who sleep on their backs are more likely to have trouble falling asleep or breathing during the night. Most of the time, we have a tendency to shift around quite a bit at night. According to a study involving 664 sleepers, on average, participants slept on their side 54% of the time, their back 37% of the time, and their front 7% of the time. Males are more likely to change positions throughout the night and move their arms, ...
Read more

The Science of Beards

Image
Here are a few facts that scientists have learned about beards as the world prepares to celebrate amazing facial hair on World Beard Day (September 3). Strong Manly Beard Men who have beards appear to be more dominant, aggressive, and strong, according to numerous studies[1][2][3] that have been conducted. In fact, men claim that growing facial hair makes them feel[4] more manly. Men who choose to grow beards tend to have higher testosterone levels than men who choose to keep their faces clean-shaven, according to research. They are also more likely to be hostile sexists, or to support the patriarchy and male dominance, as well as to believe that women belong in the kitchen, according to research on this topic. The beards (and muscles) on these males might be used to enforce gender roles. Professor R. D. Guthrie proposed in his book "Evolution of human threat display organs" from the 1970s that beards could be utilized to scare male rivals by improving aggressive and threaten...
Read more

Scientists Uncover a Surprising Connection Between Appetite and Sun Exposure

Image
Recent studies from Tel Aviv University show that women are not affected by sun exposure on their hunger levels, but males are. The study shows how the metabolic pathway is engaged differently in men and women. It was carried out utilizing lab models. Males of both animal and human species, as well as those exposed to the sun, are reportedly triggered to produce a protein called p53 that repairs any DNA damage that may have been done to the skin as a result of the exposure. The body produces the hunger-inducing hormone ghrelin in response to p53 activation. In females, the hormone estrogen stops p53 from interacting with ghrelin, preventing the desire to eat after being in the sun. The ground-breaking investigation was directed by professor Carmit Levy and Ph.D. candidate Shivang Parikh of the Department of Human Genetics and Biochemistry at TAU's Sackler Faculty of Medicine. In addition to the Tel Aviv Sourasky (Ichilov), Assuta, Meir, and Sheba Medical Centers, Drs. Yiftach Gepne...
Read more