![\"Mars](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/1781863393_975_24-12-12-GettyImages-1322287865.jpg\")
Mars as it might have looked 3 billion years ago, when it was still covered in water. Credit: Mark Garlick\/Getty\/Science Photo Library<\/p>\nScientists have discovered a completely new type of rock on Mars, revealing a mineral never before detected on the Red Planet.<\/p>\n
The team behind the discovery say it could change our understanding of Mars’s history, giving planetary scientists a new perspective into the planet’s ancient past and its 4.5-billion-year-old geology.<\/p>\n
They say the discovery is effectively a ‘geological timecapsule’ that has perserved information about the temperatures, pressures and processes that shaped Mars billions of years ago.<\/p>\n
Mars as it might have looked 3 billion years ago, when it was still covered in water. Credit: Mark Garlick\/Getty\/Science Photo Library<\/p>\n
![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/1781863394_475_24-12-12-jezerocrater.jpg\")
The remains of a river delta in Jezero Crater, as seen by the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. Credit: NASA\/JPL-Caltech\/MSSS\/JHU-APL
\nA view into Mars’s past<\/p>\n
Our Solar System is about 4.5 billion years old.<\/p>\n
Throughout Mars’s 4.5-billion-year-old history, it’s undergone a lot of changes. In its ancient past, it was much warmer and wetter than it is today.<\/p>\n
Scientists have previously discovered evidence of ancient river beds and lakes on Mars that were once filled with liquid water.<\/p>\n
That means ancient Mars had the potential to host life \u2013\u00a0and planetary scientists are still looking for evidence of that life today.<\/p>\n
While rovers and orbiters operating at Mars are a great way of learning more about the planet, scientists can also learn a great deal through Martian meteorites that fall to Earth.<\/p>\n
For this study, an international team of astronomers at the\u00a0Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto, Canada, were analysing a piece of a Martian meteorite \u2013 known as NWA 8171 \u2013 within the museum’s collections.\u00a0<\/p>\n
They found garnet, a dark-red gem that was popular with ancient Egyptians,\u00a0Romans\u00a0and the Victorian elite.<\/p>\n
The team say it’s a ‘cornerstone’ mineral in geology. <\/p>\n
![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/1781863396_874_garnet.jpg\")
A red garnet crystal. Credit: Daniela White Images \/ Getty<\/p>\n
On Earth, garnet can tell scientists a lot about our planet’s history, from its tectonic forces and ore-forming processes to the fluid-rock interactions that shape Earth\u2019s crust and mantle.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The research was led by\u00a0Tanya Kizovski,\u00a0Assistant Professor of Earth Sciences at Brock University in Canada.\u00a0<\/p>\n
“This discovery is going to expand our knowledge of the geologic processes that are possible on this planet,” says Kizovski.<\/p>\n
“This new garnet-bearing rock type could give us clues to\u00a0how Mars has changed throughout its history and new insights into the ancient environments that could have formed the garnet and related minerals.”<\/p>\n
![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Shalbatana-Vallis-birds-eye.jpg\")
A bird’s eye view of Shalbatana Vallis, a large channel near Mars\u2019s equator, captured by the Mars Express spacecraft. Credit: ESA\/DLR\/FU Berlin
\nHow they found the piece of the puzzle \u2013\u00a0and why it’s big news<\/p>\n
The discovery came about because of Kizovski’s decision to look closer at the Martian meteorite to identify\u00a0its minerals and chemical composition.\u00a0<\/p>\n
“This little section of the meteorite looked really interesting and the chemistry was a bit odd,” she says.<\/p>\n
“At first, we assumed it was a mineral called pyroxene, which is very common, but then we decided to take a second look.”<\/p>\n
To analyse the rock, they used\u00a0the\u00a0Electron Microscopy and Microanalysis Unit at the University of Portsmouth in the UK\u00a0and the\u00a0Royal Ontario Museum’s specialised laser equipment<\/p>\n
“Garnet is a classic example of a mineral often found in metamorphic rocks on Earth,” says\u00a0Kizovski.<\/p>\n
“The process of metamorphism transforms igneous or sedimentary rocks into a new form through exposure to extreme heat, high\u00a0pressure\u00a0or\u00a0hot fluids.”<\/p>\n
“On Mars, the heat and pressure needed to produce garnet through metamorphism could have come from the impact of a meteorite hitting the surface of Mars, magma\u00a0rising up\u00a0into the Martian crust or both.”<\/p>\n
![\"Another](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/03.Mars_Perseverance_ZL0_1629.jpg\")
Another Martian meteorite, known as Phippsaksla, seen on the surface of Mars by NASA’s Perseverance rover. Credit: NASA\/JPL-Caltech\/ASU
\nMartian or alien?<\/p>\n
The team say they don’t yet know whether whether the garnet-bearing rock formed on Mars or was delivered to the planet and integrated into its surface in a meteorite landing.<\/p>\n
That could mean it formed beyond Mars, but then landed on the planet<\/p>\n
The team will now study the garnet\u2019s isotopic signatures to learn more.<\/p>\n
“Measuring oxygen isotopes from the garnet-bearing rock type itself would help to confirm if it is Martian in origin or from an exotic meteorite impactor,” says\u00a0Kizovski.<\/p>\n
“Isotopes are a collection of atoms with equal numbers of protons and electrons, but different numbers of neutrons.”<\/p>\n
![\"Mars](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/mars-meteorite-739d5f8-e1611581623649.jpg\")
Mars rovers regularly find meteorites on the planet’s surface. This space rock was discovered by the Curiosity rover on 30 October 2016. It’s about the size of a golf ball. Credit: NASA\/JPL-Caltech\/MSSS<\/p>\n
The only problem is that the process would involve destroying some of the sample.<\/p>\n
“[We’ve avoided that] thus far due to its rarity, as it may be the only garnet-bearing Martian rock we have for study,\u201d Kizovski\u00a0says.\u00a0<\/p>\n
“The findings add a striking new dimension to our understanding of\u00a0the geology of\u00a0Mars,” says Professor James Darling, Professor of Earth and Planetary Science from the University of Portsmouth, “and\u00a0open\u00a0an\u00a0exciting\u00a0new window into the evolution of our planetary neighbour.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n