A team of astrobiologists supported in part by the NASA Astrobiology Institute have found that Mars formed from similar building blocks to that of Earth, but that there were differences in the later evolution of the two planets. The team examined water concentrations and hydrogen isotopic compositions trapped inside crystals within two martian meteorites in order to investigate the history of martian water and other volatiles. Their results imply that terrestrial planets, including Earth, have similar water sources—chondritic meteorites.

The paper, “Origin of water and mantle–crust interactions on Mars inferred from hydrogen isotopes and volatile element abundances of olivine-hosted melt inclusions of primitive shergottites ,” was published in the December 1 issue of Earth and Planetary Science Letters.

Funding for this research was provided by a NASA Mars Fundamental Research Program grant, a NASA Cosmochemistry Program grant, and by an Astrobiology Institute grant