Scientists believe that a mysterious black rock found on Mars may be the key to the existence of hot springs on the red planet billions of years ago, which also suggests that it was once inhabited.
Researchers of the Curtin University In Australia they examined a sample of the meteorite known as ‘The Black Beauty’, which is made of a material called zircon.
They found that the sample dates back to 4.45 billion yearsa period similar to when our own planet is believed to form.
But what really caught the scientists’ attention were the traces found in the grain water, which apparently indicated the existence of hot water on Mars.
This is believed to have existed in the form of hydrothermal vents heated by magma from beneath the planet’s crust. According to experts, similar hot springs played a key role in the evolution of life on Earth.
These springs suggest that the Red Planet may once have had the capacity to support ancient life.
The doctor Aaron Cavosieco-author of the study, told The Sun who used nanoscale geochemistry to discover evidence of hot water on Mars so long ago.
“Hydrothermal systems were essential for the development of life on Earth and our findings suggest that Mars also had water, a key ingredient for habitable environments, during the earliest history of crust formation,” Cavosie says.
Using nanoscale imaging and spectroscopythe team identified patterns of elements in this unique zircon, including iron, aluminum, yttrium, and sodium.
“These elements were added when zircon formed 4.45 billion years ago, suggesting that water was present during magmatic activity early Martian,” adds the scientist.
“This new study takes us a step further in understanding early Mars, identifying telltale signs of water-rich fluids from when the grain formed, providing geochemical markers of water in the oldest known Martian crust,” he concludes.
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