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troutman · 09-10-2012, 04:48 PM

Early Mars may not have been hospitable to life after all

http://www.cosmosmagazine.com/news/5...life-after-all

Earlier research had theorised that certain minerals detected on the surface of the Red Planet indicated the presence of clay formed when water weathered surface rock some 3.7 billion years ago.

This would also have meant the planet was warmer and wetter then, boosting chances that it could have nurtured life forms.

But new research by a team from France and the United States said the minerals, including iron and magnesium, may instead have been deposited by water-rich lava, a mixture of molten and part-molten rock beneath Earth's surface.

09-10-2012, 04:48 PM	#66
troutman Unfrozen Caveman Lawyer Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Crowsnest Pass Exp:	Early Mars may not have been hospitable to life after all http://www.cosmosmagazine.com/news/5...life-after-all Earlier research had theorised that certain minerals detected on the surface of the Red Planet indicated the presence of clay formed when water weathered surface rock some 3.7 billion years ago. This would also have meant the planet was warmer and wetter then, boosting chances that it could have nurtured life forms. But new research by a team from France and the United States said the minerals, including iron and magnesium, may instead have been deposited by water-rich lava, a mixture of molten and part-molten rock beneath Earth's surface.