NAGGING doubts about a family of Martian rocks found on Earth have been laid to rest after 20 years of investigation. We can now explain why the meteorites are so young and so common.
In the 1980s, scientists found convincing evidence that several meteorites found on Earth came from Mars. Asteroid impacts must have chipped away the rocks before they crash-landed on Earth.
But the 26 Martian meteorites known today aren’t the chips off the old block you’d expect. In fact, most are relatively young, about 200 million years old. Which is strange, since over 90 per cent of the…
