The rock, named Taoudenni 002, weighs 14.5 kg.
REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, NEW MEXICO — Martian rock pieces that have fallen to Earth are shown for the first time. The hefty piece of stone weighs 14.5 kg and is 25 cm wide.
Reported from Live Science, Sunday (5/9), the exhibition was inaugurated Wednesday (1/9) at the Maine Mineral and Gem Museum in Bethel. The location also houses about 6,000 space rocks, including the largest portion of lunar rock and the oldest igneous rocks, formed by volcanic activity, in the solar system.
The clump of rock ends up on Earth after a large asteroid or comet blasts it off the surface of Mars.
“Mars rocks can fall to Earth as meteorites. Rocks were ejected from Mars by large, energetic events,” Carl Agee, director of the Institute of Meteoritics at the University of New Mexico told Live Science.
“The rock of Mars, named Taoudenni 002 so far it is Mars meteorite the largest unbroken whole on Earth,” said Agee, who was involved in confirming the rock was indeed from the Red Planet.
There are about 300 pieces of Martian rock on Earth, totaling about 227 kg. However, collectors often break them down to sell them separately, so the actual number of known Martian meteorites on Earth is between 100 and 150. After a strong impact ejects rock from Mars, it drifts through space and eventually ends up in orbit across Earth around the Sun.
A local meteor hunter found Taoudenni 002 near a desert salt mine in Mali before world-renowned meteorite trader Darryl Pitt bought it for the Maine Mineral and Gem Museum in April 2021.
“Meteorite fallout was not witnessed, but it is a recent possibility. In the last few 100 years maybe, because of its well-preserved condition,” he added.
After acquiring the meteorite in Mali, Pitt sent a small new sample to Agee to confirm its origin. Martian meteorites have certain chemical signatures, and the minerals and elements in Taoudenni 002 closely match known Martian minerals.
“This is shergottite, which is the main type of Martian meteorite. This rock contains the shock-transformed olivine, pyroxene and feldspar minerals, which were formed from the Mars impact that ejected them,” said Agee.
The composition of the meteorite also hints at how the rock was formed. Most likely formed in a Martian volcanic episode more than 100 million years ago.
“Even martian rock larger ones may be hidden on Earth potentially buried under sandbars in the Sahara or deep in the ice in Antarctica, or perhaps at the bottom of the oceans,” he said.
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