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Science 22 July 2005:
Vol. 309. no. 5734, pp. 594 - 600
DOI: 10.1126/science.1113077
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Reports

Martian Surface Paleotemperatures from Thermochronology of Meteorites

David L. Shuster1* and Benjamin P. Weiss2{dagger}

The temporal evolution of past martian surface temperatures is poorly known. We used thermochronology and published noble gas and petrographic data to constrain the temperature histories of the nakhlites and martian meteorite ALH84001 We found that the nakhlites have not been heated to more than 350°C since they formed. Our calculations also suggest that for most of the past 4 billion years, ambient near-surface temperatures on Mars are unlikely to have been much higher than the present cold (<0°C) state.

1 Division of Geological and Planetary Sciences, California Institute of Technology, 100-23, Pasadena, CA 91125, USA.
2 Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 54-724, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA.

* Present address: Berkeley Geochronology Center, 2455 Ridge Road, Berkeley, CA 94709, USA

{dagger} To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: bpweiss{at}mit.edu

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Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)