Scientists from Department of Earth Sciences at the University of Oxford analyzed the compositions of Martian meteorites found on Earth and data from NASA’s rovers.
The fact that the surface rocks are five times richer in nickel than the meteorites was puzzling and had cast doubt on whether the meteorites are typical volcanic products.
“What we have shown is that both meteorites and surface volcanic rocks are consistent with similar origins in the deep interior of Mars but that the surface rocks come from a more oxygen-rich environment, probably caused by recycling of oxygen-rich materials into the interior,” explained study senior author Prof Bernard Wood.
“This result is surprising because while the meteorites are geologically young, around 180 million to 1.4 billion years old, the Spirit rover was analyzing a very old part of Mars, more than 3.7 billion years old.”
Whilst it is possible that the geological composition of Mars varies immensely from region to region the team believes that it is more likely that the differences arise through a process known as subduction – in which material is recycled into the interior.
The scientists suggest that the Martian surface was oxidized very early in the history of the planet and that, through subduction, this oxygen-rich material was drawn into the shallow interior and recycled back to the surface during eruptions 4 billion years ago. The meteorites, by contrast, are much younger volcanic rocks that emerged from deeper within the planet and so were less influenced by this process.
“The implication is that Mars had an oxygen-rich atmosphere at a time, about 4 billion years ago, well before the rise of atmospheric oxygen on earth around 2.5 billion years ago. As oxidation is what gives Mars its distinctive color it is likely that the red planet was wet, warm and rusty billions of years before Earth’s atmosphere became oxygen rich,” Prof Wood said.
The fact that the surface rocks are five times richer in nickel than the meteorites was puzzling and had cast doubt on whether the meteorites are typical volcanic products.
“What we have shown is that both meteorites and surface volcanic rocks are consistent with similar origins in the deep interior of Mars but that the surface rocks come from a more oxygen-rich environment, probably caused by recycling of oxygen-rich materials into the interior,” explained study senior author Prof Bernard Wood.
“This result is surprising because while the meteorites are geologically young, around 180 million to 1.4 billion years old, the Spirit rover was analyzing a very old part of Mars, more than 3.7 billion years old.”
Whilst it is possible that the geological composition of Mars varies immensely from region to region the team believes that it is more likely that the differences arise through a process known as subduction – in which material is recycled into the interior.
The scientists suggest that the Martian surface was oxidized very early in the history of the planet and that, through subduction, this oxygen-rich material was drawn into the shallow interior and recycled back to the surface during eruptions 4 billion years ago. The meteorites, by contrast, are much younger volcanic rocks that emerged from deeper within the planet and so were less influenced by this process.
“The implication is that Mars had an oxygen-rich atmosphere at a time, about 4 billion years ago, well before the rise of atmospheric oxygen on earth around 2.5 billion years ago. As oxidation is what gives Mars its distinctive color it is likely that the red planet was wet, warm and rusty billions of years before Earth’s atmosphere became oxygen rich,” Prof Wood said.
Did you know that the Earth is the only planet in the solar system that wobbles? This is why all the other planets have stripes where as the Earth
ReplyDelete's wobble mixes up the weather patterns and other planets like Jupiter has a storm that stays at a specific lattitude.
Did you know that it's a complete myth that negros are better athletes, have bigger schlongs and can run faster than Whites?
DeleteWhere did the oxygen come from?
ReplyDeleteThe oxygen has been there since the formation of the solar system just not in free atmospheric form, oxygen is a part of many gases and minerals. Some speculation as to how it became atmospheric: http://www.thenakedscientists.com/forum/index.php?topic=24825.0
DeleteAnyone who believes this Mars landing garbage probably thinks Neil Armstrong walked on the moon, although no evidence has ever been produced to prove it. Just as no evidence has been produced to prove the current Mars hoax dreamed up to serve as a mental diversion for the educated idiots who might otherwise use their brains to figure out how bad they are being screwed over by a federal government that lies to them about virtually everything.
ReplyDeleteLiberals spend trillions of dollars exploring a planet that has no life and virtually no atmosphere. They tell us it's so they can find the origin of mankind. However, they don't care about anything except redistributing White wealth to the inferior brown races.
ReplyDelete