A Younger Age for ALH84001 and Its Geochemical Link to Shergottite Sources in Mars.

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    • Subject Terms:
      MARTIAN meteorites; DYNAMO theory (Physics); PLANETARY magnetospheres; MAGMAS; COSMOCHRONOLOGY; LUTETIUM isotopes; HAFNIUM isotopes; MARS (Planet)
    • Abstract:
      Martian meteorite AlH84001 (ALH) is the oldest known igneous rock from Mars and has been used to constrain its early history. Lutetium-hafnium (Lu-Hf) isotope data for ALH indicate an igneous age of 4.091 ± 0.030 billion years, nearly coeval with an interval of heavy bombardment and cessation of the martian core dynamo and magnetic field. The calculated Lu/Hf and Sm/Nd (samarium/neodymium) ratios of the ALH parental magma source indicate that it must have undergone extensive igneous processing associated with the crystallization of a deep magma ocean. This same mantle source region also produced the shergottite magmas (dated 150 to 570 million years ago), possibly indicating uniform igneous processes in Mars for nearly 4 billion years. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
    • Abstract:
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