Scientists have reasons to believe Mars hides opals

Jul 8, 2015 06:48 GMT  ·  By

Decades ago, in 1911, a meteorite fell from the sky and crashed in the town of Nakhla in Egypt. The space rock, shown in the photo below, has since come to be known as the Nakhla meteorite. 

Having studied the meteorite, scientists found that it reached our planet all the way from Mars. Judging by its appearance and properties, it was concluded that it had been blasted from the surface of the Red Planet during a collision with an unidentified orb.

A new paper in the journal Meteoritics and Planetary Science takes a fresh look at the chemical makeup of the meteorite and shows that it contains traces of opal. Since the meteorite originates from Mars, this means that the planet might be hiding precious stones.

“This is the first time that a piece of Mars here on Earth has been shown to contain opal,” researcher Martin Lee with the University of Glasgow's School of Physics and Astronomy commented on this find in an interview.

Based on data delivered by probes sent to explore Mars, other scientists have long proposed that there might be precious stones like opals hidden on the planet. Still, it's the Nakhla meteorite that counts as the first physical evidence that this is really the case.

Martian opals could help the quest to find alien life 

The reason University of Glasgow researcher Martin Lee and his team are so thrilled to have found physical evidence of the existence of opals on Mars is that the discovery might help the quest to find alien lifeforms on this cosmic neighbor of ours.

The scientists explain that, here on our home planet, opals such as the ones that appear to be hidden on Mars more often than not form in the proximity of hot springs. Hot springs that offer all the right conditions for microbial life to thrive, that is.

“Microbial life thrives in these conditions, and opal can trap and preserve these microbes for millions of years. If Martian microbes existed, it’s possible they too may be preserved in opal deposits on the surface of Mars,” said specialist Martin Lee in a statement.

In light of these findings, the team suggests that future missions aiming to find evidence of microbial life on the Red Planet focus on exploring regions that data so far delivered by Martian orbiters and rovers indicates might hide agglomerations of opals.

The Nakhla meteorite
The Nakhla meteorite

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Researchers find evidence there are opals hidden on Mars
The Nakhla meteorite
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