A Martian stone exhumed from the desert reveals one of the best kept secrets on the red planet: the existence of hydrothermal waters billions of years ago, this is what a recent publication of the American magazine Class Almanac confirmed.
It is in the aridity of the Moroccan desert that space science recently delivered one of its most kept secrets. Black meteorite, discovered in 2011 by young Moroccans in the heart of the Sahara, turned out to be an exceptional play in Martian history. Known today as NWA 7034or more poetically “Black Beauty”, this rock of around 320 grams has aroused world interest since entering research laboratories.
According to a recent publication of the American magazine Class Almanacspecialized in science and technology, this meteorite has irrefutable geochemical evidence of the presence of hydrothermal waters on Mars in an extremely distant past. A discovery that could upset our understanding of the geological evolution of the red planet, and perhaps, life in the solar system.
-The singularity of NWA 7034 lies in its unique mineralogical structure. The analyzes revealed the presence of a zircon crystal dating from 4.45 billion years, one of the oldest materials ever identified from March. Furthermore, this crystal contains inclusions of magnetite, a mineral which can only form in a thermally active environment and rich in hot water. Clearly: the meteorite offers direct testimony to the circulation of hot water under the Martian crust, suggesting the existence of an active hydrothermal system in the first ages of the planet.
Another striking fact: NWA 7034 displays a water content much higher than that observed in all other Martian meteorites known to date. This abundance of hydrogen in minerals constitutes a precious index on the climatic and geological conditions which reigned on the surface of March several billion years ago. For researchers, this rock thus becomes an essential tool in the quest for responses on the past habitability of Mars.
This is not the first time that Moroccan soil has revealed samples of great scientific value. Rare specimens are regularly unearthed, enriching international collections and contributing to the major advances in planetology.
