Year: 2019
Type: article
Abstract: Throughout the history of the solar system, Mars has experienced continuous asteroidal impacts. These impacts have produced impact-generated Mars ejecta, and a fraction of this debris is delivered to Earth as Martian meteorites. Another fraction of the ejecta is delivered to the moons of Mars, Phobos and Deimos. Here, we studied the amount and condition of recent delivery of impact ejecta from Mars to its moons. Using state-of-the-art numerical approaches, we report, for the first time, that materials delivered from Mars to its moons are physically and chemically different from the Martian meteorites, which are all igneous rocks with a limited range of ages. We show that Mars ejecta mixed in the regolith of its moons potentially covers all its geological eras and consists of all types of rocks, from sedimentary to igneous. A Martian moons sample-return mission will bring such materials back to Earth, and the samples will provide a wealth of "time-resolved" geochemical information about the evolution of Martian surface environments.
Source: Scientific Reports
Authors: Ryuki Hyodo, Kosuke Kurosawa, Hidenori Genda, Tomohiro Usui, Kazuhisa Fujita
Language: English
Subfield: Space and Planetary Science
Field: Earth and Planetary Sciences
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $1,790
Awards: G1050244508, G1187995098, G1283480825, G1446961793, G1625777881, G1693702979, G2366306827, G2572172976, G2731418751, Geochemical study of Martian meteorites for the evolution of water and paleo-environment on Mars, Meteoritic Evidence for the History of Water on Mars: (Fostering Joint International Research), 多様なリング－衛星系の起源・進化の統一的理解に向けた理論研究, Study on impact spallation: Material transfer between planetary bodies by impacts, Construction of Earth formation model by isotopic analysis of siderophile elements in meteorites and Archean igneous rocks, G3794094398, Nitrogen fluxes and chemical evolution potential in the Hadean Earth addressed by simulated experiments, G4761683806, Development of Ne measurement instrument for ultra-small Mars missions, G5207093753, Speciation and isotope analyses of volatile elements in carbonates for the evolution of surface environment on Mars, G5722194974, G5788585566, G6350980099, Impact-induced lightning: A new perspective on the paleoenvironment of planets, Towards understanding the formation and evolution of diverse satellite systems, G781906869, Reconstruction of impact histories in early solar system based on shock metamorphic features in meteorites
OpenAlex ID: W2998107297