Egyptian-French Treasure: Piece of another planet fell to Earth

(NLĐO) - The inner secrets of a planet believed to have once been habitable like Earth have just been revealed by two treasures from space.

A research team led by geologist James Day of the Scripps Institution of Oceanography (part of the University of California, San Diego, USA) analyzed "extraterrestrial treasures" unearthed in France in 1815 and in Egypt in 1905.

These are the unusual meteorites Chsignite (from Chtasky, France) and Nakhlite (from Nakhla, Egypt), which have attracted the attention of scientists for over 100-200 years, since their discovery.

But only now are the secrets they concealed truly being revealed by modern techniques: the structure of Mars' crust and mantle.

Space treasure from Egypt - the Nakhlite meteorite - Photo: UC SAN DIEGO

These two space rocks have different compositions. Nakhlite is basalt, containing the minerals augite and olivine. Chsignite is almost entirely olivine.

On Earth, basalt is abundant in the crust and olivine is abundant in the mantle.

According to Science Alert, a meticulous process of examination and comparison helped researchers determine that they were formed within the same volcano approximately 1.3 billion years ago.

The differences between these meteorites are due to a process called fractional crystallization, where varying conditions cause the molten magma to solidify into different configurations.

Nakhlites is part of the Martian crust, which has been slightly altered by interaction with the planet's atmosphere, while Chsignites is buried within the mantle.

The unique structure of the Chsignite meteorite - Photo: UC SAN DIEGO

Interestingly, these two space treasures show that volcanic activity on Mars is both similar to and different from volcanic activity on Earth.

Fractional crystallization appears to occur in a similar manner, forming basaltic-dominant rocks in the crust and olivine-dominant rocks in the mantle, much like volcanic activity on Earth.

However, the magma pools and related materials on Mars are extremely ancient, separated from each other shortly after the red planet formed, and are not connected as they are on Earth.

This may be due to Mars lacking plate tectonics – a process that causes landmasses on Earth to be flipped, with continents repeatedly merging into supercontinents and then separating again.

Thus, the structure of Mars today may also provide a glimpse into early Earth before it was disturbed.

The research was recently published in the journal Science Advances.

Source: https://nld.com.vn/bau-vat-ai-cap-phap-manh-hanh-tinh-khac-roi-xuong-dia-cau-196240602111013078.htm