The Martian Lafayette Meteorite Interacted with Water Just 742 million years ago

Scientists believe the Lafayette Meteorite was ejected from Mars following an asteroid strike 11 million years ago , it found its way to Earth where it was put in a drawer at Purdue University until it was discovered to be what it is in 1931 , fast forward to modern times and an international collaboration of scientists have tested the meteorite and discovered it had interacted with liquid water while on Mars due to mineral deposits in the rock , most importantly those deposits were aged to about 742 million years ago meaning liquid water could have been at the surface of Mars as recently as less than 1 Billion years ago , perhaps even half a billion.

"Dating these minerals can therefore tell us when there was liquid water at or near the surface of Mars in the planet's geologic past," she says. "We dated these minerals in the Martian meteorite Lafayette and found that they formed 742 million years ago. We do not think there was abundant liquid water on the surface of Mars at this time. Instead, we think the water came from the melting of nearby subsurface ice called permafrost, and that the permafrost melting was caused by magmatic activity that still occurs periodically on Mars to the present day."

Although Ryan Ickert, senior research scientist with Purdue takes a more upbeat view , with which I agree.

"This meteorite uniquely has evidence that it has reacted with water. The exact date of this was controversial, and our publication dates when water was present," he says.
www.sciencedaily.com...

No doubt in my mind Mars was wetter for longer than our current theory states.

a reply to: gortex

That's pretty awesome that science can figure out something like that.

I wonder how much longer it will be until the Science™ figures out that men can't get pregnant?