{"id":2230189,"date":"2026-10-31T09:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-10-31T06:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=2230189"},"modified":"2026-10-31T09:00:00","modified_gmt":"2026-10-31T06:00:00","slug":"scientists-date-martian-meteorite-to-foundational-era-of-solar-system","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=2230189","title":{"rendered":"Scientists date Martian meteorite to foundational era of solar system"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Home<\/a>><\/span>Science<\/a>><\/span>Space<\/a><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

This Martian meteorite just got dubbed a ‘Rosetta Stone.’ Here’s why.<\/h1>\n
It’s older than almost all surviving Earth rocks, researchers say.<\/div>\n
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\n \u00a0By\u00a0<\/p>\n
Elisha Sauers<\/a><\/p>\n
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\"Mashable<\/p>\n
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Elisha Sauers<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n Elisha Sauers writes about space for Mashable, taking deep dives into NASA’s moon and Mars missions<\/a>, chatting up astronauts<\/a> and history-making discoverers<\/a>, and jetting above the clouds<\/a>. Through 17 years of reporting, she’s covered a variety of topics, including health, business, and government, with a penchant for public records requests. She previously worked for The Virginian-Pilot<\/em> in Norfolk, Virginia, and The Capital<\/em> in Annapolis, Maryland. Her work has earned numerous state awards, including the Virginia Press Association’s top honor, Best in Show<\/u><\/a>,\u00a0and national recognition<\/u><\/a> for narrative storytelling. For each year she has covered space, Sauers has won National Headliner Awards<\/u><\/a>, including first place for her Sex in Space<\/a> series. Send space tips and story ideas to [email\u00a0protected]<\/span><\/u><\/a> or text 443-684-2489. Follow her on X at @elishasauers<\/u><\/a>.\n <\/div>\n

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\"Geologists<\/p>\n
Upon close analysis, the Teghaza 001, a Martian meteorite discovered four years ago in the Sahara Desert, appears to be over 4.1 billion years old, dating back to a time when the solar system was newly formed..<\/span>Credit: Darryl Pitt \/ Maine Mineral & Gem Museum<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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One meteorite<\/u><\/a> from Mars<\/u><\/a> adds weight to the expression “no stone left unturned.”\u00a0<\/p>\n

Yang Liu, a geologist at NASA<\/u><\/a>‘s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, almost didn’t heed that wisdom when she nearly declined the chance to study the rock. It looked like the most common type of Martian meteorite found on Earth. But something about its texture and minerals made her take a look.<\/p>\n

In hindsight, Liu is glad she did. The space<\/u><\/a> rock, known as Teghaza 001, appears to be a piece of Mars that formed more than 4.1 billion years ago, making it one of the oldest Martian meteorites scientists have ever seen.<\/p>\n

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“This meteorite is really unique,” said Liu, the lead author of the findings, in a statement<\/u><\/a>. “One of the paper’s reviewers called it a Rosetta Stone for Mars.”<\/p>\n

The meteorite, found in the Sahara Desert in 2022, preserves a snapshot of Mars as it looked more than 4 billion years ago, perhaps less than 500 million years after the planet formed. Even then, the water locked inside its minerals had already lost much of its lighter hydrogen to space. That chemical fingerprint shows the Red Planet began losing its water almost from the word “go.” The discovery provides context for any debate about life on early Mars<\/u><\/a>: Whatever biology that might have existed, even early on, probably faced a world already drying out.<\/p>\n

SEE ALSO:<\/span>NASA’s Voyager 1 gives mission control another moment of panic<\/span><\/a><\/div>\n

Every day, about 48.5 tons of space rock and dust strike Earth’s atmosphere, according to NASA. Most of it burns up on the way down, and much of what survives sinks into the oceans, which cover more than 70 percent of the planet. People have found more than 82,000 meteorites, but only about half of one percent of them came from Mars.<\/p>\n

Nearly every known Martian meteorite<\/u><\/a> formed from magma, or molten rock, and most of them belong to three main families: shergottites, nakhlites, and chassignites. All three formed less than 2.4 billion years ago.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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\"Looking<\/div>\n
A close-up look at a slice extracted from the Martian meteorite, Teghaza 001. <\/span>Credit: NASA \/ JPL-Caltech<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

The nakhlites and chassignites<\/u><\/a> seem closely related through a process called fractional crystallization. As magma cools, certain minerals harden first and separate out, which changes the chemistry of the remaining liquid. Scientists think both groups formed in the same volcanic system.<\/p>\n

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But Teghaza 001 doesn’t fit any of these groups. Its minerals and chemistry set it apart from every other Martian meteorite. The study<\/u><\/a> appears in the journal Science<\/em>.<\/p>\n

“This is really our first piece of Martian crust from a part of Mars we’ve never had a sample of before,” said Lee Saper, a co-author now based at NASA’s Ames Research Center in California.<\/p>\n

Want more science<\/u><\/a><\/em> and tech news delivered straight to your inbox? Sign up for Mashable’s Light Speed newsletter<\/u><\/a><\/em> or get Mashable push alerts<\/u><\/a><\/em> today.<\/em><\/p>\n

Clues in the rock’s minerals point to a busy water cycle<\/u><\/a> on early Mars, with water moving between rock, ground, and air<\/a>. The minerals reveal two sources: water that rose from deep inside the planet, and surface water that had already lost much of its lighter hydrogen to space.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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\"An<\/div>\n
Scientists use geological clues to piece together ancient Mars’ past water history.<\/span>Credit: NASA illustration<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Geologists can tell the two apart because hydrogen comes in a normal form and a heavier form called deuterium<\/u><\/a>. Because the lighter form escapes into space more easily, any water left behind gets richer in deuterium over time. The surface water in Teghaza 001 carries extra deuterium.<\/p>\n

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