Martian Meteorite Chrono-Petrology & Early Water Loss Explorer

1. Petrographic Microscope & SIMS Beam Target X: 240 µm | Y: 190 µm

Filter Mode:

Targeting: Igneous Zircon Core (~4.48 Ga)

Mineral Phase

Zircon Core

U-Pb Age (Ga)

4.48 ± 0.02

δD Isotope (‰)

+1,240 ‰

Crustal Water Loss

21.4 %

PROBED MICRO-SPOTS LOG Total: 4 spots

Spot	Phase	²⁰⁶Pb/²³⁸U	²⁰⁷Pb/²³⁵U	Age (Ga)	δD (‰)	Loss %

2. Concordia Geochronology & Water Loss Physics Noachian Era

Wetherill U-Pb Concordia Diagram Concordia curve: 4.5 Ga → Present

Atmospheric Escape & D/H Enrichment (Rayleigh Model) Hydrodynamic vs. Jeans

Early Mars Paleo-Escape Parameters

Solar EUV / Wind Intensity Factor: 10.0× Primordial

Escape Regime (0: Pure Jeans, 1: Hydrodynamic Blowoff): 0.65 (Mixed)

Scientific Discovery Context: Zircon grains in Martian breccia NWA 7034 preserve pristine 4.48 Ga igneous cores with low δD (~+1,000‰) surrounded by 4.42–4.35 Ga hydrothermal alteration rims enriched up to +3,500‰ to +4,200‰. This directly confirms that Mars began violently losing its global atmospheric water inventory within the first 100–150 million years after planetary accretion.