{"id":41829,"date":"2026-06-17T16:06:57","date_gmt":"2026-06-17T14:06:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/karmaka.de\/?p=41829"},"modified":"2026-06-17T16:06:59","modified_gmt":"2026-06-17T14:06:59","slug":"expanding-mars-lithologic-diversity-discovery-of-a-garnet-bearing-clast-in-nwa-8171","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/karmaka.de\/?p=41829","title":{"rendered":"Expanding Mars\u2019 lithologic diversity: discovery of a garnet-bearing clast in NWA 8171<span class=\"badge-status\" style=\"background:#787878\">OPEN ACCESS<\/span>&nbsp;"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>T.V. Kizovski, L.F. White, A. \u010cernok, K.T. Tait, V.E. Di Cecco, X. Chu, J.M. Tomacic, R.I. Nicklin, J.R. Darling<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Geochemical Perspectives Letters, V40<br>Published: 16 June 2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.geochemicalperspectivesletters.org\/article2619\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><strong>LINK (OPEN ACCESS)<\/strong><\/a><br><a href=\"https:\/\/www.geochemicalperspectivesletters.org\/documents\/GPL2619_SI.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><strong>PDF (OPEN ACCESS)<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"justify-text\">&#8220;A garnet-bearing clast has been identified in martian breccia meteorite NWA 8171, comprising two distinct domains: an andradite-diopside domain, and a K-feldspar-augite domain. Similar assemblages occur in terrestrial metamorphic\/metasomatic settings like skarns, in alkali igneous rocks; and as secondary phases in carbonaceous chondrites. Mineralogical and textural analyses of the clast reveals a complex history, possibly reflecting multiple crystallisation stages and\/or alteration events on Mars. However, as NWA 8171 is a regolith breccia, we also consider if the garnet-bearing clast is extra-martian in origin. Analysis of pyroxene Mn\/Fe ratios indicate that augites from the K-feldspar-rich domain match martian values, while diopsides in the andradite-bearing domain are more varied in composition. This variability, together with similarities to metasomatic assemblages from chondritic and terrestrial analogues, suggests that the andradite-rich domain may not comprise primary igneous minerals. This could indicate the clast was altered on Mars in an oxidising metasomatic event, although an extra-martian origin cannot be ruled out. Still, the first identification of garnet in a martian meteorite has major implications. The andradite-bearing clast in NWA 8171 may be the first sample of a garnet-bearing lithology from Mars, representing a previously unidentified martian magma source, alteration process, regolith impactor component, or metamorphic event.&#8221;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>T.V. Kizovski, L.F. White, A. \u010cernok, K.T. Tait, V.E. Di Cecco, X. Chu, J.M. Tomacic, R.I. Nicklin, J.R. Darling Geochemical Perspectives Letters, V40Published: 16 June 2026 LINK (OPEN ACCESS)PDF (OPEN ACCESS) &#8220;A garnet-bearing clast has&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[122,42,46],"tags":[5645,706,2655,1858,1828,3572,183,2072,2928],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/karmaka.de\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41829"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/karmaka.de\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/karmaka.de\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/karmaka.de\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/karmaka.de\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=41829"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/karmaka.de\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41829\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":41830,"href":"https:\/\/karmaka.de\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41829\/revisions\/41830"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/karmaka.de\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=41829"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/karmaka.de\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=41829"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/karmaka.de\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=41829"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}