Mars was formed much later than we thought: Study

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A recent study has revealed that Mars took millions of more years to form than space scientists earlier thought. According to space scientists, Mars was formed due to early cosmic impacts, indicating that the process took place much, much later.

The research conducted by the Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) in San Antonio reveals that the solar system used to be a violent and chaotic zone in the past. Tiny protoplanets that were barely 1,900 km in diameter later collided with asteroids and other space debris to give birth to the celestial bodies as we see them today.

Similarly, planetesimals might have also collided with Mars in its rudimentary form, aeons ago. These collisions, the scientists believe, must have released “iron-loving” components to the planet’s soil. The materials such as platinum, gold, and tungsten then helped the planet crystallise really fast.

Martian meteorites that have fallen on Earth were studied to arrive at a theory on how the amalgamation of different materials formed the mantle of the Red Planet.

Commenting on the study, Simone Marchi, the lead author of the research, said: “To find out further details of the process, smoothed-particle hydrodynamics impact simulation was performed… And our research revealed that early collisions led to the formation of the heterogeneous mantle of Mars, which resembles a marble cake.”

A statement released by SwRI stated: “Evidence of these (iron-loving) elements in the mantle of Mars are important to establish that the planet was bombarded by planetesimals shortly after its primary core was formed.”

It helps arrive at a timeline of the Red Planet’s formation because radioactive decaying results gives birth to tungsten isotopes. Meaning, the ratio of tungsten isotopes in the Martian mantle has so far been referred to, to understand when the planet might have been formed.

Researches conducted earlier suggested that Mars was formed rather rapidly, roughly between 2 million to 4 million years since the formation of the solar system began, nearly 4.6 billion years ago, reported Space.com.

However, the new study indicates that rapid collisions may have changed the ratio of such iron-loving particles, implying it might have taken Mars up to 20 million years to form.

The study was published in the journal ‘Science Advances’ on February 12.