[Editor’s note: From a paper by Elizabeth Jaramillo and four co-authors recently published in Geophysical Research Letters.]
Indigenous Organic‐Oxidized Fluid Interactions in the Tissint Mars Meteorite
• Results support hypothesis that indigenous fluids incorporated into Tissint fissures on Mars and resulting chemical signatures preserved
• Differences between soluble chemistry of Tissint and strewn field soil suggest that terrestrial contamination from recovery site is unlikely
• Analyses provide a glimpse into the chemical composition of a potentially habitable brine on early Mars
Meteorites that come from Mars usually become contaminated after landing on Earth. One Mars meteorite, named Tissint, was seen falling in the dry Moroccan desert, and many of its pieces were collected within months. We analyzed the meteorite and the local soil for organic compounds and soluble salts.
We found differences between the Tissint meteorite and the local soil that suggest that Tissint is uncontaminated. The analyses also showed that the soluble salts in Tissint most likely came from Martian fluids that were similar to terrestrial seawater. [More at link]