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Rocks that have accumulated dust at the Smithsonian Institution since the 19th century may contain clues to the presence of water on Mars.
Scientists at Penn State University are re-examining hydrohematite, discovered by German mineralogist August Braythaupt in 1843, because they believe that rocks on Earth have properties similar to those of Mars called “blueberries.”
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Hydroimatite is light on iron, but contains the hydroxyl group, which is the hydrogen-oxygen group that results in water being stored in rocks.
The so-called “blueberries” were discovered on Mars by the Curiosity rover in 2004 which identified them as hematite because they lacked the technology to identify hydroimatite.
“On Earth, these spherical structures are hydroimatite, so it seems reasonable to me to imagine that the bright red pebbles on Mars are hydroimatite,” said Peter J. Heaney, professor of earth sciences at Penn. State, in a statement.
The research began when Si Athena Chen, a PhD student in Earth Sciences at Heaney, obtained a set of different ancient rock samples along with a label containing water.
Chin performed several tests on 19th-century rock, including infrared spectroscopy and synchrotron X-ray diffraction, a more sensitive and refined method than that used when Brighthoupt first described the sample in 1843.
After work, Chen found that the minerals were low in iron and contained hydroxyl, which replaced some of the iron atoms.
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“I was trying to understand the natural conditions for the formation of iron oxides,” Chen said. “What are the temperatures and pH required to crystallize these aqueous phases and can I find a way to synthesize them?” It precipitates, forming sedimentary layers.
“Much of the surface of Mars apparently appeared when the surface was wetter and iron oxides were deposited from that water. But the presence of hydroamatite on Mars is still a speculation,” Heaney explained .
Chen’s experiments revealed that natural hydrohematite contains 3.6% to 7.8% by weight of water.
Depending on the amount of hydrated iron minerals present on Mars, researchers believe there could be a large supply of water there.
وشارك الفريق في بيان “يطلق على المريخ الكوكب الأحمر بسبب لونه, والذي يأتي من مركبات الحديد في تراب المريخ إن وجود الهيدرويماتيت على المريخ سيوفر دليلا إضافيا على أن المريخ كان في يوم من الأيام كوكبا مائيا, والماء هو المركب الوحيد الضروري لجميع أشكال الحياة. on the ground”.
Source: Daily Mail
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