Planetary Scientists Answer Mystery Following NASA's Rare Mineral Discovery in Mars After Six Years

A volcanic eruption in Mars has produced a rare mineral on the Red Planet.

This is the answer provided by planetary scientists from NASA's Johnson Space Center, California Institute of Technology, and Rice University to address a mystery that plagued the Mars research community for six years.

In 2016, NASA's Curiosity rover discovered the rare mineral called tridymite in the planet's Gale Crater area.

While the finding was met with applause, it also puzzled the Mars scientific community, and the sentiment remained since then until a new study came along.

The previous confusion stems from the fact that tridymite is an extremely rare substance, characterized by its high temperature and low pressure features in the form of a quartz.

In addition, there was no immediate indication as to how a special inorganic mineral ended up in the crater, which was chosen by Curiosity as a landing site.

Curiosity's arrival at the Gale Crater confirms long-held postulations that it was a lake as far as 1 billion years ago.

This became of the most significant observations that the rover made since its exploration campaign on Mars started around a decade ago.

Furthermore, the discovery also reinforced the theory that the Red Planet was not only an asteroid impact site but also a place where volcanic eruptions occured.

The findings even revealed that certain weather and climatic factors related to the atmosphere led to the depletion of Mars.

It was believed the planet had contained an abundant water resource on its surface.

Rare Mineral Discovery

Based on a new paper published in the journal Earth and Planetary Science Letters, the said scientists explored the mystery left behind by the rare mineral discovery, which was particularly found inside a lacustrine mudstone in the crater.

The discovery paved the way for a raging debate that will transpire in the next six years, until the emergence of the new study; which assumed that tridymite and plagioclase could have "co-crystallized from a rhyolitic magma.

The this form of magma is existent on Earth, the amount of tridymite on the Blue Planet.

The National Geographic defines rhyolitic magma to be high in potassium and sodium but contains low amounts of calcium, iron, and magnesium.

They are formed under extremely hot temperatures ranging between 6,500 to 8,000 degrees Celsius (around 1,202 to 1,472 degrees Fahrenheit).

Explosive Volcanic Eruption

According to a news release by the Rice University on Monday, July 25, the researchers re-evaluated data from every reported find of tridymite on Earth.

The research team also reviewed volcanic materials and re-examined sedimentary evidence from the so-called Gala Crater Lake.

Their investigation yielded the existence of an ancient Martian magma that remained longer under a chamber below a volcano.

The Curiosity find in 2016 also included other geochemical evidence of reduced concentrations of aluminum oxide and opaline silicates.

NASA said that the tridymite was an unexpected mineral in Mars, and the scientists back then considered that the finding could help us understand how our own planet evolved.