A Younger Age for the Oldest Martian Meteorite

Details A Younger Age for the Oldest Martian Meteorite A Younger Age for the Oldest Martian Meteorite

May 2010

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2010psrd.repte.147t&link_type=abstract

Planetary Science Research Discoveries

Physics

Alh 84001, Alh84001, Allan Hills 84001, Isotopic Dating, Mars, Martian Meteorite, Crater Counting, Crust, Basin, Mars Basin Formation

Scientific paper

The Allan Hills (ALH) 84001 Martian meteorite is famous for containing fiercely-disputed evidence for fossil life. Equally important to many cosmochemists, the meteorite also contains important information about the construction of the Martian crust by magmas derived from the interior, and the subsequent modification of those igneous rocks by large impacts and circulating water. A surprising feature of ALH 84001 has been its extremely ancient age, 4.50 billion years, as determined by samarium-neodymium (Sm-Nd) and rubidium-strontium (Rb-Sr) isotopic dating. If correct, the ancient age implies that the magma in which ALH 84001 formed intruded the primordial crust, perhaps forming in a deep ocean of magma that surrounded Mars during its initial differentiation into metallic core, rocky mantle, and primary crust. New age determinations by Thomas Lapen (University of Houston) and colleagues there and at the Johnson Space Center, the Lunar and Planetary Institute, the University of Wisconsin, and the University of Brussels, Belgium, indicate that the rock crystallized in a magma 4.091 billion years ago. They used lutetium-hafnium (Lu-Hf) isotopes in determining the new age. This isotopic system has the advantage of not being affected as readily by impact heating and water alteration as are Sm-Nd and Rb-Sr. The new age is consistent with igneous activity throughout Martian history and with a period of heavy bombardment between 4.2 and 4.1 billion years as inferred from the ages of large impact basins on Mars.

Affiliated with

Also associated with

No associations

Rating

A Younger Age for the Oldest Martian Meteorite does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this scientific paper.

If you have personal experience with A Younger Age for the Oldest Martian Meteorite, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and A Younger Age for the Oldest Martian Meteorite will most certainly appreciate the feedback.

Rate now

Comments { 0 }

Profile ID: LFWR-SCP-O-799351