Publication Date:
2000-10-29
Description:
The ejection of material from Mars is thought to be caused by large impacts that would heat much of the ejecta to high temperatures. Images of the magnetic field of martian meteorite ALH84001 reveal a spatially heterogeneous pattern of magnetization associated with fractures and rock fragments. Heating the meteorite to 40 degrees C reduces the intensity of some magnetic features, indicating that the interior of the rock has not been above this temperature since before its ejection from the surface of Mars. Because this temperature cannot sterilize most bacteria or eukarya, these data support the hypothesis that meteorites could transfer life between planets in the solar system.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Weiss, B P -- Kirschvink, J L -- Baudenbacher, F J -- Vali, H -- Peters, N T -- Macdonald, F A -- Wikswo, J P -- New York, N.Y. -- Science. 2000 Oct 27;290(5492):791-5.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉Division of Geological and Planetary Sciences, 170-25, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91125, USA. bweiss@gps.caltech.edu〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11052940" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉
Keywords:
Crystallization
;
*Exobiology
;
Magnetics
;
*Mars
;
*Meteoroids
;
Temperature
Print ISSN:
0036-8075
Electronic ISSN:
1095-9203
Topics:
Biology
,
Chemistry and Pharmacology
,
Computer Science
,
Medicine
,
Natural Sciences in General
,
Physics
Permalink