Chapter Twenty-Nine: Surprising Conclusions
Mars is one of the eight planets in the solar system, the fourth planet in the solar system from the inside to the outside, and belongs to terrestrial planets.
The diameter is half that of the Earth, and the rotation period is similar to that of the Earth, with one revolution about twice that of the Earth. The mass is about 1/9 of the Earth, and the surface gravity is about 2/5 of the Earth.
In the ancient books of our country, Mars is called "fluorescent confusion", which is due to the fact that Mars is red, fluorescent like fire, and moves in the sky, things are uncertain, the situation is complicated, confusing, and there is the meaning of "fluorescent fire, separation and confusion".
Mars is basically a desert, with sand dunes, gravel and no stable liquid water.
The atmosphere is mainly composed of carbon dioxide, which is thin and cold, and dust is suspended in it, and dust storms often occur every year.
The geological activity of Mars is not active, and most of the surface landforms were formed in the more active period of ancient times. There are craters, volcanoes and canyons, including Mount Olympus, the highest mountain in the solar system (over 27 kilometers high), and Mariner Canyon, the largest canyon.
Another unique topographical feature is the stark difference between the northern and southern hemispheres of Mars: the south is an old, crater-filled highland, while the north is a younger plain
In the southeast of Mars, an ancient volcanic belt, a narrow giant crater runs between Mount Elycion and Mount Olympus, looking from space like a "scar" on the surface of Mars.
The crater is about 900 kilometers long and 400 kilometers wide, and the crater edge protrudes to form a mountain range more than 2,600 meters high, while the bottom of the crater forms a deep valley about 1,800 meters deep.
The central depression near the bottom of the crater is a dark shadow, with occasional dust storms and sand flying away, obscuring the sky and the sun.
In the dark shadows, a giant black treasure green rock with a diameter of about one kilometer and a weight of more than five billion tons is standing majestically there, unchanged from ancient times to the present
Tsinghua University, the laboratory building of the School of Astronomy, the laboratory where the [Flying Stones from the Sky] is stored, and several top experts and scholars in China are gathered.
Among them are two academicians invited by President Li from the Chinese Academy of Sciences, one is Professor Guan Houbing, an expert in astronomy, and the other is Professor Zhang Tianqi, an expert in physics, an acquaintance of President Li's old partner and Yuan Haochen.
"Yuan Haochen, I've heard about your performance, and you really didn't disappoint us!" Professor Zhang Tianqi looked at Yuan Haochen with a smile on his face and said.
"Thank you, Professor Zhang, for the compliment." Yuan Haochen said modestly, "The next research work still needs your guidance." "Don't be so polite, Dean Li, I, and Professor Guan are old partners for many years, and we are honored to be able to participate in such a valuable scientific research project." Zhang Tianqi waved his hand and said.
Next, the crowd went through a full day of discussion:
"Combined with all the data from archaeological excavations, it can be judged that this is indeed an ancient meteorite with eyewitnesses."
"Is it only the main body of the meteorite that can be confirmed as the source now?"
"Yes, the main part is from Mars, and the source of the black treasure green part is not yet clear."
"Are you sure you've consulted all the meteorite samples?"
"Is it possible that the black treasure green part was embedded after falling to the earth?"
"There are no artificial traces of the connecting part between the black treasure green meteorite and the main body."
"If you want to melt the rock, Guloulan doesn't have the technical ability to do so."
"A meteorite within a meteorite, this is the first discovery in the history of astronomy."
"What is the composition of the main part?"
"The main part was identified as a pure olivine-free chondrite Martian meteorite."
"Space meteorites violently hit the Martian volcanic belt, and lava fused with meteorite fragments escaped into space"
"It's a possibility."
"If this is the case, then the space meteorite that hit Mars must have a lot of volume and energy, and it will definitely leave a big crater."
"Can the location of the impact be determined by the composition of the meteorite body?"
"This is more difficult, maybe we can refer to the Martian rock samples collected by the Phoenix Mars rover in the United States."
"It's mainly the black treasure green meteorite, which we still don't know anything about."
"At present, let's collect some meteorite samples and bring them back to the Chinese Academy of Sciences for more in-depth detection and analysis."
"Okay, looking forward to good news from you."
A week later, some astonishing findings came from the Chinese Academy of Sciences.
Through the Chinese Academy of Sciences, scientists from astronomy, physics, chemistry and biology jointly researched.
Scientists believe that the magnetite component of the "Black Treasure Green Meteorite" is not produced by natural chemical reactions, but comes from a special manufacturing process.
On Earth, magnetite crystals are mostly made by supermagnetic bacteria.
Scientists have used the latest high-resolution electron microscopy analysis to show that the magnetite crystal structure of the "black treasure green meteorite" was made by some kind of superbug.
The main part of the [Extraterrestrial Flying Stone] has been found through isotope testing, and its formation age is much earlier than other Martian meteorites found on the earth (2-400 million years ago), and the history can be traced back to 2.1 billion years ago, that is, the early era of Martian geological history.
This means that perhaps 2.1 billion years ago, a meteorite from far space carrying primitive life hit the volcanic belt of Mars, and a piece of Martian fragment that was violently impacted and peeled off, after a long journey of 2.1 billion years in space, finally fell to the outskirts of the ancient city of Loulan about 2,000 years ago.
【Supplementary Information】:
On Earth, the oldest fossils of organisms we have found so far are rocks from Western Australia, about 3.5 billion years ago, which are similar to the current cyanobacteria, which were some primitive life and were invisible to the naked eye. Therefore, it can be said that the origin of life on Earth is no later than thirty-five billion years.
At the same time, the age of the formation of the earth is about 4.6 billion years ago, and with these two data, we can see the age of the origin of life, which can be roughly defined between 4.6 billion and 3.5 billion years. Today, with the development of science, geologists believe that in the early days of the formation of the Earth, the Earth was hit by a large number of asteroids and meteorites, and it was not suitable for the survival of life. It is not so much that there was life on the earth at that time, but that it was destroying life, so the origin of life on the earth was not earlier than 4 billion years.
In addition, carbon has been found in 3.85 billion-year-old rocks in Greenland, and we know that there are two types of carbon, one inorganic carbon and one organic carbon. In addition, there are heavy and light carbons, so the source of these carbons can be inferred based on the ratio of light and heavy carbons in the carbon. Based on isotopic analysis of carbon, scientists speculate that this carbon is organic carbon and is derived from living organisms. In other words, the time for the origin of life has been greatly reduced, that is, between 4 billion and 3.8 billion years ago.