Presence of manganese oxide on Mars suggests ancient oxygen-rich atmosphere
APR 25, 2016
DOI: 10.1063/PT.5.029766
New Scientist : Mars’s atmosphere is currently 95% carbon dioxide, with only trace amounts of oxygen. Because the planet’s red coloring is the result of oxidization of iron on the surface, many scientists believe that the atmosphere used to be more oxygen-rich. However, there was little direct evidence to support the theory. Now NASA’s Curiosity rover has identified significant amounts of manganese oxide in rocks in Gale crater. According to Agnès Cousin of the Research Institute in Astrophysics and Planetology in Toulouse, France, the formation of that oxidized manganese would have required much more oxygen than is present in the current atmosphere.
© 2016 American Institute of Physics
