Posted on 11/24/2013 1:44:01 PM PST by SunkenCiv
A meteorite found last year in the Sahara Desert is likely the first recognized piece of ancient Martian crust, a new study reports.
The Mars meteorite NWA 7533 is 4.4 billion years old and contains evidence of long-ago asteroid strikes, suggesting that the rock came from the Red Planet's ancient and cratered southern highlands, researchers said...
Humayun and his colleagues subjected NWA (short for northwest Africa, where the rock was found) 7533 to a series of analyses. The researchers determined the meteorite's age, for example, by determining that crystals within it called zircons formed about 4.4 billion years ago...
The team also found high concentrations of normally rare elements such as nickel, osmium and iridium in NWA 7533, indicating that the rock formed in a region that was pummeled by chondritic meteors, which are relatively enriched in these materials.
Further, after measuring the abundances of certain elements within the meteorite, Humayun and his team were able to calculate a thickness for the Red Planet's crust...
Though researchers believe ancient Mars was relatively warm and wet, the team found no hydrous silicate minerals — which form in the presence of liquid water — within NWA 7533. Scientists will likely unearth more such puzzling details as they study the meteorite further, Humayun said.
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
Now that you mention pizza, Red Planet would not be a bad name for a specialty pizza. Lots of pepperonis and red sauce.
Thanks, SunkenCiv.
I always learn something from your threads!
The pepperoni would look like the craters, it’d be cool, great idea. Of course, deliver would take 250 days...
Thanks T for the kind remarks!
This is a darn'd clever bunch!
I'm sure there weren't too many wild assumptions involved in this calculation.
Thus things proceed in their circle; and thus the empire is maintained.
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