In their current study, the researchers now examined samples from a total of 17 Martian meteorites, which can be assigned to six typical types of Martian rock. The precise isotopic composition of Earth's accessible outer rock layers and that of both types of meteorites have been studied for some time however, there have been no comparably comprehensive analyses of Martian rocks. The scientists examined these and other Martian meteorites in the study. The Martian Meteorite Elephant Moraine (EETA) 79001. While so-called carbonaceous chondrites, which can contain up to a few percent carbon, originated beyond Jupiter's orbit and only later relocated to the asteroid belt due to influence of the growing gas giants, their more carbon-depleted cousins, the non-carbonaceous chondrites, are true children of the inner solar system. They are considered to be largely pristine material from the beginnings of the solar system. These chunks of rock generally found their way to Earth from the asteroid belt, the region between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter. They therefore hold valuable information about where in the early solar system a certain body's building blocks originated.Īs a reference for the original isotopic inventory of the outer and inner solar system, the researchers used two types of meteorites. Rather, their abundance depended on the distance from the sun. Scientists assume that in the early solar system these and other metal isotopes were not evenly distributed. Isotopes are different varieties of the same element, which differ only in the weight of their atomic nucleus. To this end, the isotopes of the rare metals titanium, zirconium and molybdenum found in minute traces in the outer, silicate-rich layers of both planets provide crucial clues. ![]() Christoph Burkhardt of the University of Münster, the study's first author. "We wanted to find out whether the building blocks of Earth and Mars originated in the outer or inner solar system," says Dr. But which one is right? Which process actually took place? To answer these questions in their current study, researchers from the University of Münster (Germany), the Observatoire de la Cote d'Azur (France), the California Institute of Technology (U.S.), the Natural History Museum Berlin (Germany), and the Free University of Berlin (Germany) determined the exact composition of the rocky planets Earth and Mars. On their way, they were accreted onto the planetary embryos of the inner solar system, and step by step, enlarged them to their present size.īoth theories are based on theoretical models and computer simulations aimed at reconstructing the conditions and dynamics in the early solar system both describe a possible path of planet formation. A newer theory, however, prefers a different growth process: Millimeter-sized dust "pebbles" migrated from the outer solar system towards the sun. Collisions of these planetary embryos finally produced the inner planets Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars. ![]() According to the older theory, the dust in the inner solar system agglomerated to ever larger chunks gradually reaching approximately the size of our moon. ![]() Two theories describe how, in the course of millions of years, the inner rocky planets formed from this original building material. ![]() Approximately 4.6 billion years ago, in the early days of our solar system, a disk of dust and gasses orbited the young sun.
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