Various aspects of the petrogenesis of the Martian shergottite meteorites

Jones, J. H. (2015),

Meteoritics & Planetary Science. doi: 10.1111/maps.12421

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Several controversies are associated with the age and origin of the shergottite meteorites, a suite of basaltic samples from Mars. Here, it will be argued that (1) the shergottites have a young igneous age, ≤600 Myr, (2) their parent magmas were relatively dry, (3) the range of initial isotopic compositions in shergottites is most likely due to assimilation of crustal materials by mantle-derived basaltic magmas, and (4) the intercumulus liquid compositions of shergottites such as Shergotty and Zagami are relatively well constrained.