In a new study, scientists have analyzed ancient materials preserved astonishingly in ice generated by an asteroid's collision with the Earth.
According to BBC News, the scientists published their new study in the journal Geology. The samples were found in the Pampas in Argentina and represent a new way of looking into the environmental history of other planets, Mars in particular.
The ancient materials were trapped in the asteroid during the intense fiery impact with the Earth.
"It turns out the composition of the plant material is very similar to the composition of the impact glass itself," study lead author Peter Schultz, a geologist at Brown University, told BBC News. "It was very rapidly transferred from one thing to the other, likely due to the rapid and high heat that boiled off that plant material and replaced it with glass."
These samples are estimated to be 10 million years old, the Holocene and Miocene periods. NASA currently has two rovers roaming the Martian surface to gather as much data as possible on the planet's environmental history. Since the asteroid encases ancient materials, scientists on Earth can compliment the space agency's work in space.
"In North America, the slate was wiped clean," Schultz said. "The glaciers eroded them, so we only see a fraction of the real evidence. But in South America it's all preserved, so the impacts send out these glassy globs that get trapped... because stuff keeps coming in on top."
At NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas, Dr. Kathie Thomas-Kepra told BBC News her team analyzed the complex organic compounds preserved in the asteroid.
"I was surprised to find the amount of plant matter preserved," she said. "Next we need to evaluate if microbes can also be preserved by this mechanism. Then, we need to collect the appropriate samples on Mars."
