Tissint, the Martian meteorite that fell in Morocco in July 2011, reveals an unprecedented diversity of organic compounds, indicates a press release from the Hassan II University of Casablanca (UH2C).
“This is the discovery published in Science Advances https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.add6439 by an international team of researchers with the participation of Hasnaa Chennaoui Aoudjehane, professor at UH2C (Faculté des Sciences Ain Chock) and president of ATTARIK Foundation”, indicates the same source.
“Prospecting for the organic matter contained in Tissint may help answer the question of the presence of a form of life in the past on the red planet”, specifies the same source, adding that “Tissint is the fifth observed fall of Martian meteorite in the world”.
“The work carried out on this meteorite gave rise to an article published in Science in early 2012 by an international consortium of researchers led by Pr Hasnaa Chennaoui Aoudjehane (https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.1224514) , this work had made it possible to show that the ejection of this rock from the surface of the planet Mars took place less than a million years ago, following a very violent impact and that at that time, Mars was wet.
“The in-depth study of the organic molecules contained in the Martian meteorites, especially Tissint, which is an observed fall that has not had much exchange with external terrestrial agents, is important to answer this fundamental questioning”, we explain. from the same source, adding that “Organic molecules generally associated with life are composed of carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, sulfur and sometimes other elements”.
According to the UH2C, work on Martian meteorites had shown that these molecules can be formed by non-biological processes, called abiotic organic chemistry. The work published in this article presents the most comprehensive catalog ever made of the diversity of organic compounds contained in a Martian meteorite.
It shows a link between the specific mineralogy of the meteorite and the unprecedented diversity of the organic compounds it contains. Similarly, the study of these abiotic organic materials formed from water-rock interactions have revealed information on the evolutionary processes of the mantle and the crust of Mars.
Organic magnesium compounds, a suite of organic molecules never seen on Mars, have been found in abundance and are of particular interest. They provide information on the high pressure and high temperature geochemistry experienced by the interior of the red planet and demonstrate a link between its carbon cycle and its mineralogical evolution, explains the same source.
These works are precursors and pave the way for the study of the return of Martian samples to Earth, in particular those concerning the formation, stability and dynamics of organic compounds in current Martian environments.
This publication enriches the contribution and highlights the efforts made in Morocco by researchers from the Hassan II University of Casablanca and ATTARIK Foundation for more than twenty years to enhance the meteorites of Morocco both scientifically and heritage, concludes the communicated.