Ancient Martian meteorite Teghaza 001 offers view into planet's crust

Planetary scientists have confirmed that a meteorite discovered in the Sahara desert is a rare fragment of the ancient crust of Mars. Ars Technica reported that a research team led by Yang Liu, a planetary scientist at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, identified the rock as Teghaza 001. The discovery provides a rare direct sample from the early history of the planet. [1]

Crater counts indicate that most of the surface of Mars is more than 3 billion years old. However, almost all Martian meteorites recovered on Earth are much younger. Ars Technica noted that the three main classes of Martian meteorites, known as shergottites, nakhlites, and chassignites, are all 2.4 billion years old or younger. [1]

Before the discovery of Teghaza 001, scientists had identified only two ancient Martian meteorites. Ars Technica reported that these previous specimens were Allan Hills 84001, which was discovered in Antarctica, and a broken rock nicknamed Black Beauty from northwest Africa. [1]

Scientific interest in ancient Martian rocks relates to the early environment of the planet. Evidence suggests that during the ancient Noachian time period, the surface of Mars contained liquid water and may have been habitable for microorganisms. Today, Mars orbits the Sun every 687 Earth days and has a solar day lasting about 24.66 hours. [3][4]