Ancient Martian Meteorite Reveals Clues to Red Planet’s Early History

This meteorite, called Northwest Africa 7034 (NWA 7034) or, more commonly, Black Beauty, is distinguished by its composition, according to the explanations of Xataka. It is made up of both very ancient and younger minerals, which is unique among this type of meteorite. This rock contains zircon within it, a type of transparent, white or reddish-yellow mineral, whose age is estimated at around 4.45 billion years, that is, in the early stages of Martian history.

The NWA 7034 has another exceptional characteristic. It contains ten times more water than other meteorites from this location. Moreover, the Black Beauty contains iron, aluminum and sodium, unusual elements in this type of mineral, it is specified. But it is the presence of magnetite - an iron oxide - that suggests that it crystallized with water at high temperature and in an oxidizing environment. In other words, Mars already had water in its early stages of formation and had the necessary conditions to host microbial life.

According to the researchers’ explanations, the magnetite is found in areas of the zircon that are not altered by radiation, indicating that they formed at the same time as the zircon and not as a result of subsequent secondary processes. These discoveries do not, however, confirm the possibility of life on Mars or its arrival on Earth through meteorites.