| Subject: Why No Stony Meteorites on Mars? Mystery Solved. |
| From: Wretch Fossil |
| Date: 16/10/2011, 07:51 |
| Newsgroups: sci.skeptic,alt.sci.seti,sci.med |
Meteorites found on Earth are 94% stony meteorites, 5% iron
meteorites, and 1% stony iron meteorites. Billions of stony meteorites
have fallen on Earth and tens of thousands of them have been recorded
by scientists. However, no stony meteorites have ever been found on
Mars. All meteorites found on Mars are either iron meteorites or stony
iron meteorites. Experts are baffled by this phenomenon and speculate
on the mystery (ref. 1).
The answer could be simply: Stony meteorites originate from Mars (ref.
2); when they returned to Mars, they were indistinguishable from other
rocks on Mars.
Ref. 1: Experts’ explanations for no stony meteorites on Mars:
“Previous work by Albert Yen (Jet Propulsion Lab) and colleagues using
nickel abundances measured by the APXS indicates that the Martian soil
and certain sedimentary rocks contain 1% to 3% contamination from
meteorite debris. So why haven't stony (chondritic) meteorites been
identified in the MER data? Schröder and coauthors suggest chondrites
may be too weak to survive impact at current atmospheric densities. Or
maybe MERs Opportunity and Spirit just happened to move through
strewn
fields of irons. Maybe more of the cobbles on the Martian plains and
hills are stony meteorites that just haven't been recognized.”
Source: http://www.psrd.hawaii.edu/May08/MetsOnMars.html
Ref. 2: Mars Produced Asteroid Belt and Meteorites
http://wretchfossil.blogspot.com/2010/11/mars-produced-asteroid-belt-and.html