Signs of life on Mars? 4.45-billion-year-old meteorite grain suggests hot water once flowed on red planet | Technology News
There is a possibility that alien life existed in hot water on Mars. The latest evidence has shown scientists the possibility of hot water flowing on Mars during its ancient times. This development could likely establish that despite arid conditions, the red planet may have been once capable of supporting life aeons ago.
This latest piece of information comes from a 4.45 billion-year-old zircon grain within the Martian meteorite NWA7034 that was discovered in the Sahara Desert in 2011. The NWA7034, a two-billion-year-old Martian meteorite, is the second oldest ever discovered and is known as “Black Beauty” due to its shiny black appearance. The researchers found that the zircon grain has fingerprints of fluids rich in water.
Aaron Cavosie from Curtin’s School of Earth and Planetary Sciences feels that this breakthrough will open new ways of understanding hydrothermal systems related to the activity of volcanic magma that flowed through Mars. Cavosie, in a statement, said that the team used nano-scale geochemistry to detect elemental evidence of hot water on Mars some 4.45 billion years ago.
The scientists explained that hydrothermal systems were essential for the development of life on Earth and that their findings also suggest Mars also had water—a vital ingredient for habitable environments during the early crust formation. Cavosie said that the team spotted specific elements in the unique zircon grain with the help of nano-scale imaging and spectroscopy, as this allows the chemical composition of objects to be determined. The fragment consisted of elements like iron, aluminium, yttrium, and sodium.
This is not the first time that the possibility of water on Mars was observed. In July, geologists from MIT used satellite imagery to study alien rivers, their rate of flow, and how they moved fluid and sediment across the Martian surface. Scientists theorise that water existed on Mars in liquid form some 4.1 billion years ago. Mars reportedly lost water billions of years ago owing to harsh solar radiation from the Sun.
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