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Martian meteorite’s organic materials origin not biological, formed by geochemical interactions between water and rock.
The search for life on Mars can teach us about the reactions that led to the building blocks of life on early Earth.
The search for life on Mars can teach us about the reactions that led to the building blocks of life on early Earth.
Organic molecules found in a meteorite that hurtled to Earth from Mars were synthesized during interactions between water and rocks that occurred on the Red Planet about 4 billion years ago, according to new analysis led by Carnegie’s Andrew Steele and published by Science.
The meteorite, called Allan Hills (ALH) 84001, was discovered in the Antarctic in 1984 and is considered one of the oldest known projectiles to reach Earth from Mars.
“Analyzing the origin of the meteorite’s minerals can serve as a window to reveal both the geochemical processes occurring early in Earth’s history and Mars’ potential for habitability,” explained Steele, who has done extensive research on organic material in Martian meteorites and is a member of both the Perseverance and Curiosity rovers’ science teams.
Organic molecules contain carbon and hydrogen, and sometimes include oxygen, nitrogen, sulfur, and other elements. Organic compounds are commonly associated with life, although they can be created by non-biological processes as well, which are referred to as abiotic organic chemistry.
Organic MaterialIt is unclear whether these processes were induced by surrounding aqueous conditions simultaneously or sequentially, but the evidence indicates that the interactions between water and rocks did not occur over a prolonged period. What is evident, however, is that the reactions produced organic material from the reduction of carbon dioxide.