Scientists have made a groundbreaking discovery inside a Martian meteorite.
The international team of scientists found grains of garnet, a mineral that had not previously been identified in a sample from Mars.
The meteorite identified as NWA 8171 is stored in the collection of the Royal Ontario Museum. Breaking off the small fragment of approximately 0.8 by 0.5 mm, they found an unexpected mineral inside.
Tania Kizovski, from Brock University, said: “This small section of the meteorite looked really interesting and the chemistry was a bit strange.”
“At first we assumed it was a mineral called pyroxene, which is very common, but then we decided to take a second look,” he added.
The second examination showed that the mineral was andradite, which is a type of iron-based garnet. In contrast to the deep red color of Earth gems, this Martian variety has a greenish-yellow color.
Garnet on Earth forms when exposed to high temperatures, pressure or chemical changes that have not been found on Mars until now. This find raises many questions about whether and how garnet formed there.
Garnets are excellent historians because they contain information about the temperature, pressure and other factors involved in their formation. This could tell us more about the history of the planet over the last 4.5 billion years.
