Scientists analyzed samples of meteorites that came to Earth from Mars.
Meteorites that smashed into Mars during the earliest days of the inner Solar System may have carried an ocean's worth of water to the planet.
Researchers from the University of Copenhagen in Denmark analyzed the concentration of a rare chromium isotope, known as chromium-54, in samples from meteorites that came to Earth from Mars, aThey estimated that early meteorite showers likely brought enough water to Mars to create a 300-meter-deep ocean.Lead researcher Martin Bizzarro and a team of colleagues conducted their sample analyses to estimate how much water was deposited on the Red Planet.
Mars' upper layer isn't made up of large tectonic plates, as is the case on Earth, meaning the materials on its surface shouldn't be churned and regurgitated in the same way they have on our planet over millennia. As such, meteorite materials should be pretty well preserved on the red planet's surface. Meanwhile, the rocks from the mantle below should still show what Mars was like before meteorites bombarded it.
"It’s a bit like DNA," Bizzarro told New Scientists in an interview. "Carbonaceous-type asteroids have a very distinctchromium isotope composition relative to the inner solar system." The scientists analyzed the chromium-54 in samples of meteorites that came from Mars' surface and mantle and ended up on Earth. By doing so, they could estimate the total mass of the meteorites that collided with Mars during its early period. They outlined their findings in
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