Updated

Updated · NASA · Oct 29

NASA Study Dates Teghaza 001 at 4.1 Billion Years, Identifying Rare Ancient Martian Crust

Updated

Updated · NASA · Oct 29

NASA Study Dates Teghaza 001 at 4.1 Billion Years, Identifying Rare Ancient Martian Crust

Q: If Teghaza 001 came from the southern highlands near Hellas Basin, can scientists finally pinpoint where ancient Mars rocks reached Earth?

No. Teghaza 001 gives scientists a stronger clue, but not a final pinpointed source on Mars. The study says the meteorite likely came from the ancient southern highlands, possibly near Hellas Basin, because its age, chemistry and geologic setting fit that region. Mars’ southern highlands preserve some of the planet’s oldest crust, and Hellas is a giant impact basin where old crustal rocks could have formed and later been blasted into space. But “possibly” is the key word. Scientists usually cannot trace a Martian meteorite to one exact outcrop or crater unless they can match it uniquely to orbital data, surface geology and ejection history. For Teghaza 001, researchers have a plausible source region, not a confirmed launch site. That is still a major advance. Teghaza 001 is at least 4.1 billion years old, making it one of the oldest known Mars rocks on Earth, and it carries evidence that water moved through the crust as the rock cooled. Those features narrow the search by pointing to terrain that is both extremely ancient and altered by water. A firmer answer would require better matches between the meteorite’s mineral and chemical signatures and Mars orbital observations, along with identifying a crater young enough to have ejected it but located in very old crust. So Teghaza 001 does not finally solve the source-location problem, but it gives researchers one of their best leads yet on where some of Mars’ earliest rocks reached Earth.

3 articles · Updated · NASA · Oct 29

Teghaza 001—an 800-gram meteorite found in the Sahara in 2022—formed more than 4.1 billion years ago, making it one of the three oldest Martian meteorites known.
Zircon crystals and an in-situ rubidium-strontium dating method let NASA-funded researchers date single mineral grains without destroying the rare sample, the first such aging of an ancient Martian meteorite.
Its mix of igneous minerals suggests Mars’ crust formed from cooling magma and was later altered by subsurface water around 4.1 billion years ago.
The meteorite’s mineralogy matches parts of Mars’ cratered southern highlands, giving scientists what they call a first sample of crust from a previously unsampled region of the planet.
Researchers say Teghaza 001 could clarify how water, rock and possibly the atmosphere interacted on early Mars, extending findings from a June paper on its water content.