Martian meteorite, shergottite - SNC, Gadamis, Libya
More rare than diamonds or gold, meteorites from Mars are among the most exotic substances on Earth with less than 350 kg (770 lbs) known to exist — and, as would be expected, there is less Mars on Earth than the Moon (about 25% as much). For many reasons, scientists long imagined an esoteric group of unusual meteorites with similar features were planetary in origin, and it was thought these meteorites were either from Venus or Mars. Scientists speculated an asteroid impact must have 'kicked' some of the material off one of these planets, and as Mars has a weaker gravitational field and thinner atmosphere then Venus — which meant less energy would be required to eject the specimens off the Martian surface — it was reasoned these strange meteorites had to be from Mars.
And then there was proof! A suspected Martian meteorite contained impact glass and researchers determined that within the glass there were tiny bubbles, and within these tiny bubbles were tiny amounts of gas. The gas was analyzed and it matched perfectly with the signature of the Martian atmosphere, which we learned about as a result of NASA’s Viking space probes which were sent to Mars in the mid 1970s.
This specimen has been authenticated by scientists of the Meteoritical Society — the foremost organization of meteorite researchers in the world — as being a Martian basalt, which is to say it’s a type of lava composed of olivine, pyroxene and feldspar in the form of maskelynite. As tremendous amounts of heat and pressure are required for maskelynite to form, this is consistent with an impact event on Mars which would explain the delivery mechanism of this specimen to Earth.
This specimen was found by desert nomads in April 2019 and is exceedingly fresh. The exterior surface is covered in fusion crust — the result of frictional heating as the meteorite burned through Earth’s atmosphere at the end of its interplanetary travels. The cut and polished face reveals a large-grained diabasic texture with clinopyroxene, lathes of maskelynite with small amounts of merrillite, apatite, ilmenite and pyrrhotite. As a result of previous research, with great confidence the presence of Martian atmosphere can be inferred in the pockets of shock melt. Accompanied by a custom armature, this is a choice specimen of the planet Mars.
89 x 69 x 52mm (3.5 x 2.75 x 2 in.) and 338.6 grams (0.75 lbs)
The analysis of this meteorite was led by Dr. Anthony Irving, among the world’s foremost meteorite classification experts. The classification was published in the 109th edition of the Meteoritical Bulletin — the official registry of meteorites — which accompanies this offering.
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