Martian Meteorite NWA 13441 Bridges a 2-Billion-Year Gap in Mars’ Volcanic Record

A rock recovered from the Sahara desert in 2019 was identified as a Martian meteorite and named Northwest Africa 13441 (NWA 13441). Laboratory analysis published on 27 June 2026 shows that the meteorite crystallized 1.273 billion years ago, placing it squarely in a roughly 2-billion-year interval for which no shergottite samples had previously existed. The specimen is an olivine-rich basalt that records a deep-mantle source distinct from the mantle reservoirs sampled by younger and older shergottites.

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Martian meteorites are the only direct samples of the Red Planet that can be examined in terrestrial laboratories. Of the ~400 identified Martian specimens, the dominant class is the shergottite, a volcanic rock that typically dates to ? 600 million years ago. A handful of older shergottites date to ? 2.4 billion years, leaving an almost 1.8-billion-year “gap” in the Martian volcanic record. Filling this gap is essential for reconstructing the planet’s magmatic evolution and for testing models of mantle differentiation.

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• 2019 – NWA 13441 discovered in the Algerian Sahara.

Algeria-found Martian meteorite reveals hidden era of Mars history

• 2026 – A collaborative team led by Boston College researchers publishes their findings in *Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta* (27 June 2026).

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• 2026 onward – Ongoing isotope work is planned to compare NWA 13441 with other Martian meteorites.

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• Crystallization age: 1.273 billion years (determined by radiometric dating of mineral phases).

Algeria-found Martian meteorite reveals hidden era of Mars history

• Sample mass analyzed: 0.9 gram.

A meteorite punched through a bedroom ceiling in Hillsborough, New Jersey, in 2024. Scientists have now found hundreds of different amino acids inside it — and the majority are not known to occur natu

• Known Martian meteorites: ? 400; shergottites constitute the majority.

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• Prior shergottite age distribution: ? 600 million years (most) and ? 2.4 billion years (two specimens).

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• Neodymium isotopic composition: initially chondritic, matching the primordial material of chondrite meteorites and unlike any previously studied shergottite.

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Isotopic measurements reveal that NWA 13441’s neodymium signature is essentially chondritic, indicating that the magma that formed the rock tapped a previously unsampled mantle reservoir within Mars. This reservoir appears to have retained a chemical memory from the planet’s earliest history, contrasting with the extensively reworked mantle inferred from younger shergottites. The meteorite also exhibits intense shock features consistent with the high-energy impact that ejected it from Mars.

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Ethan Baxter, an Earth and Environmental Science professor at Boston College and co-author of the study, emphasized the meteorite’s uniqueness, noting that no other Martian shergottite of this age had been documented. Lead author Dylan M.

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• “The characteristics of this meteorite were entirely surprising,” — Ethan Baxter

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• “Our goal is to analyze additional isotope systems that will help us better understand how this unique sample relates to other Martian meteorites on early Mars,” — Ethan Baxter

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The investigators plan to analyze additional isotope systems to determine how NWA 13441 relates to other Martian meteorites and to refine the picture of early Martian mantle evolution. Continued isotopic work may reveal whether similar deep-mantle reservoirs persisted throughout Mars’ history or represent isolated pockets of primordial material.

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