Washington, April 16 (ANI): American scientists have shed new light on the evolution of Mars by studying Martian meteorites.
The findings of the study, conducted by Thomas Lapen, assistant professor of geosciences at the University of Houston and his team, have appeared in a paper titled "A Younger Age for ALH84001 and its Geochemical Link to Shergottite Sources in Mars," in the journal Science.
ALH84001 is a thoroughly studied, well-known Martian meteorite.
This stone is unique among Mars rocks available for study on Earth, since its formation age is more than 2.5 billion years older than any other recognized Martian meteorite, giving scientists the only sample of material formed early in Mars' history.
Data from this rock may help geologists better understand, through analogy, the processes of early Earth evolution.
Lapen and his colleagues' found that the meteorite is 4.091 billion years old, about 400 million years younger than earlier age estimates.
They concluded that this stone formed during an important time when Mars was wet and had a magnetic field, conditions that are favourable for the development of simple life.
This finding precludes ALH84001 from being a remnant of primordial Martian crust, as well as confirming that volcanic activity was ongoing in Mars over much of its history.
Lapen said: "This research helps us better refine the history of Mars.
"This has huge ramifications for our understanding of volcanic processes active in Mars and for the nature of deeper portions of the planet that are sources of magmas that produced the largest volcanoes in the solar system. These data also are used to refine models of initial planetary formation and early evolution."
With the crystallization age and formation of this rock being debated since its discovery in 1984, Lapen and his team seized an opportunity to better refine the early history of Mars.
With samples provided by the NASA Antarctic meteorite curator and the meteorite working group, the researchers used a relatively new method that has never been applied to this stone - lutetium-hafnium isotope analysis.
Lapen said: "We studied variations in isotopic compositions of minerals to determine the age and sources of magmas that produced these rocks.
"We uncovered evidence that the volcanic systems in Mars were likely active more than four billion years. This connection allows the possibility that regions with the largest volcanoes in the solar system perhaps host some of the longest-lived volcanic systems in the solar system." (ANI)
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