Scientists have discovered the earliest known evidence of hot water on Mars, shedding light on the Red Planet’s ancient potential to harbor life. The breakthrough, reported by Space.com, comes from a 4.45-billion-year-old zircon grain found in the Martian meteorite NWA7034, also known as “Black Beauty.”
‘Black Beauty’
Black Beauty, found in the Sahara Desert in 2011, is one of the most studied Martian meteorites due to its age and unique characteristics.While the rock itself is approximately 2 billion years old, researchers from Curtin University identified something even older within it: traces of water-rich fluids dating back to Mars’ pre-Noachian period, suggesting the planet may have once been capable of supporting life.
“We used nano-scale geochemistry to detect elemental evidence of hot water on Mars 4.45 billion years ago,” said Aaron Cavosie of Curtin’s School of Earth and Planetary Sciences.
The study revealed that specific elements, including iron, aluminium, yttrium, and sodium, were added to the zircon grain during its formation. These chemical markers suggest the presence of water during early Martian magmatic activity.
Water on Mars
The findings suggest that Mars may have had hydrothermal systems, essential for the development of life, during its early years.
“Hydrothermal systems were essential for the development of life on Earth, and our findings suggest Mars also had water, a key ingredient for habitable environments, during the earliest history of crust formation,” Cavosie said.
Mars has long intrigued scientists with evidence of ancient waterways and lakebeds, particularly from its Noachian period around 4.1 billion years ago. This new research, however, suggests liquid water existed even earlier, during the pre-Noachian period.
Zircon grain
The study also builds on prior research that identified the zircon grain as the first and only known “shocked” zircon from Mars, indicating it had survived a meteorite impact. “This new study takes us a step further in understanding early Mars by identifying tell-tale signs of water-rich fluids from when the grain formed,” Cavosie added. These findings provide fresh geochemical insights into Mars’ oldest crust.