UNITED KINGDOM.- Discovering the secrets of the universe is one of the constants for scientists who want to know the origin of our planet and how it is linked to the other planets of the Solar System. Apparently the relationship between the Earth and Mars one of the closest stars is in the Antarctica, where a mineral that is rare here but abundant on the red planet has just been discovered.
It’s about the jarosite, a mineral of a somewhat yellowish brown color, which looks more like a brittle substance, same that was found in ancient ice deposits and that was forged through the dust that was trapped in them. Apparently this matter is the one that is almost entirely integrated into the planet Mars and although it is rare on Earth, it has already been found.
According to the information published in “Nature Communications”, water is required for the jarosite is formed, in addition to iron, potassium sulfate and acidic conditions in the environment. This is something unusual on Mars, so it is believed that it could have been the result of a long process in which huge layers of ice covered the mud where the dust was found, which was trapped, thus giving rise to the emergence of the mineral .
Giovanni Baccolo A research geologist at the University of Milan-Bicocca, was looking for minerals that would indicate the age of ice he was excavating, without imagining that he would find this precious and rare mineral. The main author of the investigation found some strange dust particles, in the core of the ice, which turned out to be jarosite.
“This is just the first step in linking deep Antarctic ice to the Martian environment,” he said. Baccolo, who admitted that the jarosite particles found in Antarctica are only a minute quantity, compared to that found in the dusty plains of Mars. So this seemingly small discovery once again links Earth to the red planet.
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