Organic compounds have been found in the world-famous Mars meteorite. They are, however, not proof of life.

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A chemical event that took place 4 billion years ago produced life-like molecules.

According to a new study, organic compounds identified in a Mars meteorite that fell to Earth 4 billion years ago did not develop due to life-sustaining chemical reactions on Mars. Researchers say that these results could provide new insight into the earliest Earth's genesis of the essential elements of life.

Any chemical containing carbon is considered an organic molecule and can have other elements such as oxygen, nitrogen, sulfur, and more. Abiotic or non-biological activity can also lead to the formation of organic molecules. In the previous study, numerous organic compounds, including the organic gas methane, were found in Mars' rocks and atmosphere. It has been disputed, however, where these chemicals come from.

The Allan Hills 84001 meteorite, also known as ALH 84001, was the subject of a recent investigation. An impact from 17 million years ago blew the boulder off the Red Planet; it fell to Earth 13,000 years ago. It was discovered in Antarctica's Allan Hills in 1984.

Astrophysicist Andrew Steele, a senior staff scientist at the Carnegie Institution for Science in Washington DC, who led the new research, tells Space.com that ALH 84001 is "one of the most researched rocks." We found a fresh piece of information in the meteorite that helped us make sense of our long history of observations.

For a long time, scientists have disagreed on how ALH 84001's organic compounds came to be. Ancient life on Mars, contamination from our planet when the meteorite fell, and abiotic processes like volcanic activity or cosmic impacts have all been proposed as possible explanations.

Researchers studied the meteorite's minerals to shed light on this riddle. They discovered that serpentine-like materials were found in the meteorite. Associated with wet settings, serpentine is a dark green mineral that may be speckled or patterned to resemble the scales on a snake's skin.

According to these studies, water-rock interactions in ALH 84001 may have produced the organic compounds found there. When iron- or magnesium-rich volcanic rocks interact chemically with circulating water, one process termed serpentinization occurs, changing their mineral composition and creating hydrogen. When carbonate minerals are formed by reacting with slightly acidic water that contains carbon dioxide, the process is known as "carbonation."

The organic chemicals found in ALH 84001 may have been created when volcanic rock and salty fluids interacted early in Mars' history. If the findings are correct, they could also offer insight into the possibility of life on other planets. In the grand scheme of things, this finding shows that "some key building blocks for life were formed on early Earth, and are being made elsewhere in our solar system," such as Saturn's moon Enceladus, Steele said.

This isn't the first time that a meteorite has piqued scientists' interest in figuring out how life started. There was a lot of debate about whether or not ALH 84001 included microbial fossils from Mars. A growing body of evidence implies that abiotic forces may play in forming these apparent fossils.

For a long time, the controversy over this meteorite had polarized the scientific community, but "I think over the years, a lot of that hostility has lessened," said Steele. I hope that this paper can reignite the debate positively.

The researchers' findings were published in the journal Science on January 14.

Reference : https://www.livescience.com/mars-meteorite-evidence-water-rock-interactions

Image source : https://pixabay.com/id/photos/ruang-angkasa-semesta-tenaga-surya-4641363/

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