A Noachian hydrosphere component in the 4.1-Ga Martian meteorite Teghaza 001OPEN ACCESS 

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Lee Saper, Yang Liu, Yunbin Guan, Chi Ma, Elizabeth Ann Bell, and Carl B. Agee

Science Advances
10 Jun 2026
Vol 12, Issue 24

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“The recent discovery of a 4.1-billion-year-old (Ga) Martian gabbroic diorite enables an assessment of water reservoirs on early Mars. Measurements of H2O and D/H in igneous Ca-phosphates record mixing between D-poor magmatic water and a D-rich component that retains an imprint of the ancient Martian hydrosphere. The D/H ratio of magmatic water is similar in Martian magmas with different ages and mantle sources, indicating that early differentiation processes did not fractionate H isotopes in the primordial Martian mantle. The D-rich component was assimilated by migrating magmas that interacted with aqueously altered basaltic crust. Our minimum bound on the D/H ratio of the Martian hydrosphere at 4.1 Ga (~2× the D/H ratio of Earth seawater) supports models of rapid H loss to space from Mars’ juvenile atmosphere.”

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