![]() "This meteorite recorded the first stage of the evolution of Mars and, by extension, of all terrestrial planets, including the Earth," says Valerie Payré, a planetary scientist and study author from Northern Arizona University, in a statement. ![]() Chemical signatures on the meteorite indicate that Mars also had volcanic activity similar to that on Earth, and may help researchers compare the formation history of Earth and Mars. When the rock formed, this area on Mars may have been comparable to Iceland today, a statement explains. Using a supercomputer and a machine learning algorithm, researchers have pinpointed the meteorite's origin to the Terra Cimmeria-Sirenum area on the Red Planet's southern hemisphere. The space rock, recovered from the Western Sahara of Africa in 2011, formed 4.5 billion years ago and slammed into Earth after an asteroid impact sent it flying across space five to ten million years ago. The study was published this week in Nature Communications. Now, researchers have pinpointed the crater on Mars where NWA 7034 came from, adding to suspicions that the Red Planet was once habitable. ![]() Called breccia, this type of rock is the only one of its kind ever found from Mars, reports Kiona Smith for Inverse. One of those Martian meteorites that barreled across space, named NWA 7034 or Black Beauty, was vastly different than the rest, in that it contained sharp fragments of different types of rock clumped together. David Gregory awaiting future donation and can be seen in the Teck Suite of Galleries: Earth’s Treasures.To date, researchers have collected 175 samples of Mars rocks on Earth. This meteorite is currently on loan from Dr. This glass was likely formed during the high pressure impact event that sent the rock hurtling towards the Earth. The interior is much fresher and contains a mixture of minerals, such as pyroxene and plagioclase, and glass. It was found in March of 2008 and has a distinctive brown exterior caused by weathering (rusting) from sitting on the Earth’s surface. The ROM holds 425 g of NWA 5298 including the main mass which measures 8.5 x 7.5 x 3.5 cm. Most rely on elemental and isotopic compositions that I will not go into here. Since this discovery, a number of other lines of evidence have been found to link all of the martian meteorites. The elements in these trapped gases matched those found in the martian atmosphere. Martian meteorites were first shown to originate from Mars by examining gases trapped in the meteorites. You are probably now thinking – well if these types of rocks can form on Earth, how do we know they are from Mars? Good question. NWA 5298 is similar to rocks on Earth that form from volcanic activity, in fact, it is thought to have formed in a thick lava flow. This month we are looking at a shergottite. This is why you may hear martian meteorites referred to as SNC meteorites. Rocks from Mars are broken down into three categories: shergottites, nakhlites and chassignites. This is not because meteorites hit these areas more often, it just happens to be easier to spot a dark rock from space sitting in the middle of a barren desert. Most meteorites are found in hot and cold deserts. ![]() Meteorites are named for where they are found on Earth and in this case (and in many others) our meteorite was found in Northwest Africa. This is probably a good time to teach everyone what these letters represent. This month we take a look at a rock from Mars.Ī number of the meteorites you will see in the “meteorite of the month” blog will have names starting with “NWA”. The Earth has luckily been able to collect a number of meteorites from our moon and from the planet Mars. However, these collisions also happen on the planets and moons in our solar system. Most often we think of them as pieces of rock ejected off of asteroids during big collisions in space. Meteorites can come from a variety of locations.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |