The Martian meteorite paradox: Climatic influence on impact ejection from Mars?
The large number of Martian meteorites with “young” crystallization ages (especially shergottites formed ∼ 170 Myr ago on Mars) represents a paradox, because it suggests that either the mean surface age of Mars is rather young or that specific source regions are preferentially amenable for impact sa...
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Published in | Earth and planetary science letters Vol. 256; no. 1; pp. 55 - 60 |
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Main Authors | , , |
Format | Journal Article |
Language | English |
Published |
Elsevier B.V
15.04.2007
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Subjects | |
Online Access | Get full text |
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Summary: | The large number of Martian meteorites with “young” crystallization ages (especially shergottites formed ∼
170 Myr ago on Mars) represents a paradox, because it suggests that either the mean surface age of Mars is rather young or that specific source regions are preferentially amenable for impact sampling. We present a climate controlled scenario, in which surface regions of limited extent have been especially favored for impact ejection of Martian meteorites during the past ∼
5 Myr. This conclusion implies that the ejection ages of the shergottites may be used to constrain the end of the last major glaciations on Mars. |
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Bibliography: | ObjectType-Article-1 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-Feature-2 content type line 23 |
ISSN: | 0012-821X 1385-013X |
DOI: | 10.1016/j.epsl.2007.01.009 |