Presented by: Dr. Yang Liu
Affiliation: JPL
Location: 3853 Slichter Hall
Abstract:
Martian meteorites provide key information about the geological history of Mars. However, our collection is biased by geologically young samples that are not representative of Mars’ exposed surface, which is dominated by ancient rocks. This generates gaps in our knowledge of Mars’ early evolution. Recently, we discovered that a Martian meteorite, Teghaza 001, is a gabbroic diorite with a crystallization age > 4.1 Ga. In this presentation, I will describe this unique sample, how it compares to other Martian meteorites and igneous rocks studied by rovers, what results imply to our understanding of early Mars differentiation.