Mars has glowed red in the evening sky throughout human history, captivating individuals since ancient times. ancient Romans to the present day.
The basic query about why Mars appears red has intrigued people for centuries, perhaps even millennia, according to Adomas Valantinas, a researcher at Brown University and the primary author of a recent study released on Tuesday.
Currently, he states, “our comprehension of Mars’s ruddy hue has undergone a significant shift.” This revised account of the planet’s reddish appearance—attributed to ferrihydrite, an iron oxide—is expected to enhance our knowledge about the historical presence of water and the potential existence of life on Mars.
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Rusty red dust
For many years, scientists have hypothesized that iron oxide rust turned Mars red. Due to the numerous spacecraft studying Mars over recent decades, researchers have understood that this reddish hue comes from iron particles in the soil undergoing a rusting process.
Across billions of years, this reddish substance has eroded into dust and dispersed throughout Mars by the winds, a phenomenon that persists to this day.
However, iron oxides vary widely, and the precise chemistry of Mars' rust has sparked intense debate, according to the study.
Hematite or ferrihydrite?
Due to the lack of liquid water on Mars' surface nowadays, these reddish minerals were believed to form from dry iron oxides found in the dust, like hematite.
However, fresh analysis of space probe data combined with lab experiments indicates that Mars' reddish hue more closely resembles iron oxides incorporating water, referred to as ferrihydrite. This substance usually develops rapidly in the presence of cold water, implying it likely formed during Mars' earlier period when the planet was still damp.
Valantinas noted that although ferrihydrite has previously been suggested as the cause of Mars' reddish hue, this hypothesis had never been substantiated until now. The team used observational data along with advanced laboratory techniques to create a Martian dust analogue in their experiments.
Extensive consequences for existence on Mars
This finding holds significant consequences for comprehending Martian history and determining if there was once life on Mars, according to the recent research. Unlike hematite that develops under warm or arid circumstances, ferrihydrite emerges when exposed to cold water.
Valantinas points out that this indicates Mars might have harbored an environment conducive to the existence of liquid water, a crucial precondition for life. Our research demonstrates that the creation of ferrihydrite on Mars necessitated the availability of oxygen—whether sourced from the Martian atmosphere or elsewhere—and water reactive enough to interact with iron. This scenario starkly contrasts with the current arid and frigid conditions prevalent on Mars.
'A door-opening opportunity'
The research truly opens up new avenues of exploration," stated co-author Jack Mustard in a release. "While these recent discoveries are thrilling, we understand that our conclusions must be confirmed using Martian specimens, which are presently being gathered by NASA’s Perseverance rover. Once we have access to those samples, we’ll be able to validate whether our hypothesis regarding ferrihydrite holds true.
The research was released on Tuesday in the peer-reviewed British journal Nature Communications.
The article initially appeared on USA TODAY: What gives Mars its reddish hue? Recent studies uncover the solution to this longstanding puzzle.
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