Mars Had Water Before Life on Earth
Article by Chris Ciaccia November 11, 2020 (foxnews.com)
|
• It was previously estimated that water existed on Mars 3.7 billion years ago. Now, a new study published in Science Advances shows that there actually was water on Mars 4.4 billion years ago (before life appeared on Earth).
• Scientists made the determination by examining a meteorite discovered in the Sahara Desert in 2012 called NWA(NorthWest Africa) 7533, which they believe originated on Mars. Levels of oxidation inside the space rock that suggests there was water on Mars long before there was life on Earth.
• “This oxidation could have occurred if there was water present on or in the Martian crust 4.4 billion years ago during an impact that melted part of the crust,” said the study’s co-author and University of Tokyo planetary scientist Takashi Mikouchi. “Our analysis also suggests such an impact would have released a lot of hydrogen, which would have contributed to planetary warming at a time when Mars already had a thick insulating atmosphere of carbon dioxide.”
• In the last few years, scientists have discovered large underground lakes – 6 miles across and a mile deep – at the South Pole of Mars. Researchers in 2020 suggested that the water on Mars once contained the right ingredients to support life.
• NASA’s Perseverance rover is on its way to Mars where it will perform a variety of functions, including looking for evidence of ancient life.
NASA is on its way to figuring out whether Mars contains fossilized evidence of extraterrestrial life, but a new study suggests the Red Planet had water billions of years earlier than previously believed.
The research, published in Science Advances, notes there was water on Mars’ surface 4.4 billion years ago.
The experts looked at meteorite NWA 7533, believed to have originated on Mars, and found levels of oxidation inside the space rock that suggests there was water on Mars long before there was life on Earth.
“This oxidation could have occurred if there was water present on or in the Martian crust 4.4 billion years ago during an impact that melted part of the crust,” study co-author and University of Tokyo planetary scientist Takashi Mikouchi said in a statement. “Our analysis also suggests such an impact would have released a lot of hydrogen, which would have contributed to planetary warming at a time when Mars already had a thick insulating atmosphere of carbon dioxide.”
Previous estimates put the presence of water on Mars at approximately 3.7 billion years ago, roughly 700 million years later than the new study suggests.
Mikouchi, who said this is the first time he has studied NWA 7533 (discovered in the Sahara Desert in 2012), noted that the team’s analysis of it “led … to some exciting conclusions.”
FAIR USE NOTICE: This page contains copyrighted material the use of which has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. ExoNews.org distributes this material for the purpose of news reporting, educational research, comment and criticism, constituting Fair Use under 17 U.S.C § 107. Please contact the Editor at ExoNews with any copyright issue.