The most comprehensive study ever conducted of minerals on Mars' surface reveals the planet has undergone three distinct geological eras throughout its history, with water playing a progressively lesser role in each.
If life as we know it here on Earth ever existed on the red planet, it could only have survived in the planet's infancy, during the earliest era, the study concludes.
"Starting about 3.5 billion years ago, conditions on Mars became increasingly dry and acidic—not a pleasant place for any form of life, even a microbe," said study team member John Mustard, a geologist from Brown University.
The mineral maps were created using data from OMEGA, the major spectrometer aboard the Mars Express, as well as related observations collected by other Mars orbiters and the two rovers.
The study, led by Jean-Pierre Bibring from the University of Paris, is detailed in the March 21 issue of the journal Science.
The three faces of Mars
Based on their analyses, the team divided Mars' geological history into three distinct eras:
The first era, which lasted from about 4.6 billion years ago to 4 billion years ago, was a relatively wet one. The oldest rock—exposed by erosion, impact or faulting—showed the presence of clay minerals, such as chamosite and nontronite, that require abundant water, moderate temperatures and low acidity to form.
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