A meteorite that broke off from Mars and reached Earth has revealed new information about the history of liquid water on the Red Planet.
About this Oku.Az Reports with reference to TRT Haber.
A meteorite called the “Lafayette meteorite” stored at Purdue State University in West Lafayette, Indiana, USA, reportedly provides clues to a significant period of water on Mars.
Scientists are almost certain that liquid water once existed on Mars. However, details such as when and how much water was available are still unclear.
Researchers are seeking answers to these questions by studying meteorites that fell to Earth from the Red Planet, as well as findings from exploration devices on Mars.
The “Lafayette meteorite” is one of the fragments scattered through space by the impact of an asteroid on Mars about 11 million years ago. Although it is not known exactly how this meteorite, which was discovered in a drawer at Purdue University in 1931, got here, important results were obtained thanks to the research carried out on it.
Previous studies of the meteorite have shown signs of interaction with liquid water on Mars. However, it was not known when this effect occurred.
To find the answer to this question, researchers at Purdue University dated minerals from the meteorite. A study published in the journal “Geochemical outlook cards” revealed the age of minerals using noble gases such as helium and neon.
The team discovered that the minerals came into contact with liquid water 742 million years ago. It was also found that the structure of the meteorite did not change during this period and was preserved even after interaction with water.
The study also points to the absence of large amounts of liquid water on the surface of Mars 742 million years ago. According to Marissa Tremblay, lead author of the study, water during this period may have formed as a result of melting underground ice called “permafrost.”
Tremblay believes that this melting occurs periodically under the influence of magmatic activity on Mars.
Every new evidence that liquid water once existed on Mars, even at the microbial level, raises the possibility of life.
Today, the history of this planet, which presents difficult conditions, is of great importance regarding the possibility of life existing in other corners of the universe.
Research on the “Lafayette meteorite” not only reveals the geological history of Mars, but also shows that meteorites can be used as time capsules.
