(ORDO NEWS) — A NASA study describes how rocks may have been altered by meteorite impacts, which were quite common on ancient Mars.
“Because we expect these samples to tell about the geological past of Mars, it is important for us to understand whether the rocks have been altered and how,” said Dr. Svetlana Shkolyar, a planetary scientist at the Goddard Space Flight Center.
“The heat and pressure on impact can melt the affected rocks.
This means that when we study these rocks today, millions or even billions of years after the collisions occurred, their original characteristics may have changed. It can even make one type of stone look like a completely different type.”
Part of the Perseverance rover’s mission includes collecting rock samples from Mars that can later be brought back to Earth for study.
Scientists want to make sure that the most efficient samples are selected to achieve two main goals – finding signs of life and dating geological history.
Therefore, it is important for scientists to understand how these rock patterns formed and how they may have changed over geological time.
According to a study by Shkoljar and her team, there are a few things to keep in mind when sampling.
“Both for astrobiology and for determining the age of rocks, it is very important to take into account the impact effect,” Shkolyar said.
“When looking for fossil carbon in these rocks that could be indicative of past life, one must consider that changes caused by impact shock can change the carbon signature.”
The study focused on one type of mineral, plagioclase feldspar, which is found in many rocks on Mars.
The scientists describe in detail ways to recognize the shock wave in plagioclase, including the improvement of instrumental methods with which scientists characterize the chemical composition of rocks and identify signs of a shock wave in them.
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