Two petrographic settings of carbonaceous components, mainly filling open fractures and occasionally enclosed in shock-melt veins, were found in the recently fallen Tissint Martian meteorite. The presence in shock-melt veins and the deuterium enrichments (delta D up to +1183 parts per thousand) of these components clearly indicate a pristine Martian origin. The carbonaceous components are kerogen-like, based on micro-Raman spectra and multielemental ratios, and were probably deposited from fluids in shock-induced fractures in the parent rock of Tissint. After precipitation of the organic matter, the rock experienced another severe shock event, producing the melt veins that encapsulated a part of the organic matter. The C isotopic compositions of the organic matter (delta C-13 = -12.8 to -33.1 parts per thousand) are significantly lighter than Martian atmospheric CO2 and carbonate, providing a tantalizing hint for a possible biotic process. Alternatively, the organic matter could be derived from carbonaceous chondrites, as insoluble organic matter from the latter has similar chemical and isotopic compositions. The presence of organic-rich fluids that infiltrated rocks near the surface of Mars has significant implications for the study of Martian paleoenvironment and perhaps to search for possible ancient biological activities on Mars.
|
Publication name |
METEORITICS & PLANETARY SCIENCE, 49 (12):2201-2218; 10.1111/maps.12389 DEC 2014 |
|
Author(s) |
Lin, Yangting; El Goresy, Ahmed; Hu, Sen; Zhang, Jianchao; Gillet,Philippe; Xu, Yuchen; Hao, Jialong; Miyahara, Masaaki; Ouyang, Ziyuan; Ohtani, Eiji; Xu, Lin; Yang, Wei; Feng, Lu; Zhao, Xuchao; Yang, Jing; Ozawa, Shin |
|
Corresponding author |
LIN Yangting linyt@mail.igcas.ac.cn Chinese Acad Sci, Inst Geol & Geophys, Key Lab Earth & Planetary Phys, Beijing 100029, Peoples R China. |
| Author(s) from IGCAS |
OUYANG Ziyuan | View here for the details
 |
 |
|