Physics – Geophysics
Scientific paper
Nov 1985
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=1985rvgeo..23..391m&link_type=abstract
Reviews of Geophysics (ISSN 8755-1209), vol. 23, Nov. 1985, p. 391-416.
Physics
Geophysics
215
Mars (Planet), Meteorites, Meteoritic Composition, Petrology, Chronology, Mars Atmosphere, Mechanical Shock, Microstructure, Mineralogy, Planetary Geology, Meteorites, Snc Meteorites, Shergottites, Nakhlites, Chassignites, Mars, Petrology, Evolution, Classification, Mineralogy, Petrography, History, Crystallization, Chemistry, Composition, Metamorphism, Shock Effects, Petrogenesis, Origin, Source, Samples, Meteorite, Mafic Rocks, Crust, Parent Bodies, Comparisons, Element Ratios, Age, Formation, Melting, Is
Scientific paper
Shergottites, nakhlites and the Chassigny meteorites (SNC group) may have originated on Mars. The shergottites are medium-grained basalts, the nakhlites are pyroxenites and the Chassigny is a dunite. The SNC group is petrologically diverse but differs from all other known achondrites in terms of mineral chemistry, the redox state, the oxygen isotopic composition and the radiometric ages. The SNC stones are mafic and ultramafic cumulate rocks with mineralogies that indicate rapid cooling and crystallization from tholeiitic magmas which contained water and experienced a high degree of oxidation. The characteristics suggest formation from a large parent body, i.e., a planet, but not earth. The estimated ages for the rocks match the estimated ages for several mapped Martian volcanoes in the Tharsis region. Additionally, the elemental and isotopic abundances of atmospheric gases embedded in melts in the SNC stones match Viking Lander data for the Martian atmosphere. However, reasons are cited for discounting the possibility that a large meteorite(s) collided with Mars about 180 myr ago and served as the mechanism for ejecting the SNC stones to earth.
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