A recent study spearheaded by researchers at Curtin University has brought to light what could be the most ancient direct evidence of warm water activity on Mars, suggesting that the Red Planet was potentially capable of supporting life in its past.
The research scrutinized a 4.45 billion-year-old zircon grain from the renowned Martian meteorite NWA7034, otherwise known as Black Beauty, and discovered geochemical traces indicative of water-enriched fluids.
Dr. Aaron Cavosie, a co-author of the study from Curtin’s School of Earth and Planetary Sciences, stated that this finding paves the way for a deeper understanding of ancient Martian hydrothermal systems connected to magma activity, as well as the planet’s past capacity to support life.
“We applied nano-scale geochemistry to identify elemental proof of warm water on Mars approximately 4.45 billion years ago,” Dr. Cavosie said. “Hydrothermal systems were fundamental for life to develop on Earth, and our findings imply that water, a crucial factor for habitable environments, existed on Mars during the formation of its earliest crust.”
The research team used nano-scale imaging and spectroscopy to discern patterns of elements in the unique zircon, including iron, aluminium, yttrium, and sodium. These elements were incorporated into the zircon around 4.45 billion years ago, suggesting that water was involved during the initial stages of Martian magma activity.
Dr. Cavosie further explained that the research demonstrated that, despite the massive meteorite impacts leading to significant surface disruptions on Mars, water was present during the early Pre-Noachian period, which is before about 4.1 billion years ago.
“A 2022 Curtin study on the same zircon grain revealed that it had been ‘shocked’ by a meteorite impact, making it the sole known shocked zircon from Mars,” Dr. Cavosie added. “This recent study brings us closer to understanding Mars’s early history by identifying signs of water-rich fluids present when the grain was formed, thus offering geochemical indicators of water in the oldest known Martian crust.”
The lead author of the study, Dr. Jack Gillespie from the University of Lausanne, was a Postdoctoral Research Associate at Curtin’s School of Earth and Planetary Sciences when the study was conducted. Other co-authors include researchers from Curtin’s Space Science and Technology Centre, the John de Laeter Centre, and the University of Adelaide. The study received financial support from the Australian Research Council, Curtin University, University of Adelaide, and the Swiss National Science Foundation.
The complete study, titled ‘Zircon evidence for early hydrothermal activity on Mars’, is set to be published in Science Advances.
