Meteorite found in the Sahara is one of the oldest known pieces of Mars

A meteorite found in 2022 in the Sahara Desert in Mali formed in the Martian crust at least 4.1 billion years ago, according to a study published Thursday, Oct. 29, in the journal Science. NASA says the rock, named Teghaza 001, is one of the oldest Martian meteorites ever found, and Reuters reported it may be the oldest of the roughly 435 known on Earth.

The meteorite was found in eight pieces weighing nearly 2 pounds in total. Researchers determined its age by measuring the decay of uranium into lead in zircon crystals inside the rock.

Lead author Yang Liu of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory told Reuters that multiple lines of evidence in the rock suggest Mars had surface water more than 4.1 billion years ago. NASA said the sample comes from a part of the Martian crust not previously represented among known meteorites.

Source: Reuters; NASA, NASA-funded study details one of the oldest Mars meteorites ever found