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Meteorite contains evidence of liquid water on Mars 742 million years ago

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2024-11-14 15:00:03

This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies. Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility:

An asteroid struck Mars 11 million years ago and sent pieces of the red planet hurtling through space. One of these chunks of Mars eventually crashed into the Earth somewhere near Purdue University and is one of the few meteorites that can be traced directly to Mars. This meteorite was rediscovered in a drawer at Purdue University in 1931 and named the Lafayette Meteorite.

During early investigations of the Lafayette Meteorite, scientists discovered that it had interacted with liquid water while on Mars. Scientists have long wondered when that interaction with liquid water took place. An international collaboration of scientists, including two from Purdue University's College of Science, has recently determined the age of the minerals in the Lafayette Meteorite that formed when there was liquid water.

Marissa Tremblay, assistant professor with the Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences (EAPS) at Purdue University, is the lead author of this publication. She uses noble gases like helium, neon and argon to study the physical and chemical processes shaping the surfaces of Earth and other planets. She explains that some meteorites from Mars contain minerals that formed through interaction with liquid water while still on Mars.