New meteorite research may challenge our understanding of Martian origins

New analyzes reveal that the chemical composition of the interior red planet It can largely come from meteor strikesAnd not from a gas cloud as previously thought. This situation makes the composition of Mars similar to that of the Earth.

Basically everything we know about the mantle of Mars comes from three Martian meteoritesthat hit the ground in the past.

Previous analyzes of one of them, Chasini, are concerned xenon isotopes. Xenon is a chemically inert gas that can survive unchanged for millions of years. Isotopes come in ratios that can be associated with a specific place and time.

These ratios in Chassini meteorite He suggested that the rock formed in a large cloud of gas that formed a primordial cloud Solar System. In addition, the ratio of isotopes corresponds to the characteristics of the atmosphere of Mars. This led to the hypothesis that the volatile elements of the red planet, incl. Hydrogen, carbon, and oxygen come from the solar nebula.

The current research is based on samples from the same meteorite, but focuses on isotope of krypton. As a result, more accurate measurements can be obtained with a high-resolution mass spectrometer.

in Scientific article You can read:Mars atmosphere It contains different proportions (of the solar type) of the isotope of krypton, indicating that it is not caused by the degassing of fiery oceans or the fragmentation of internal volatiles. On the other hand, atmospheric krypton comes from accumulation nebula gas Solarafter mantle formation but before the nebula dispersal”

Mars formation more like The way the earth was formed. In addition, such a picture is more consistent with general claims about the sources of the planet volatile elements.

In turn, Chris Ballentine from the University of Oxford says: “It controls the time and source of volatiles oxidation stateWhich in turn controls the structure and distribution of the elements on this planet, which for our Earth is the reason we can live on it.”