Rose-Colored Martian Meteorite Teghaza 001 Found in Sahara Is 4.1 Billion Years Old

Scientists have studied a rare rose-colored rock from Mars that was found in the Sahara Desert. They say it is about 4.1 billion years old and shows that Mars may once have been wet and Earth-like. The study was published in the journal Science on 29 October 2026.

What Is the Rose-Colored Martian Meteorite Teghaza 001?

1. Where was it found? -Teghaza 001 (Teg 001) was found in the Sahara Desert of Mali in 2022. The rock weighs about 2 pounds and has a rose color.
2. Who studied it? - Carl Agee and Karen Ziegler of the University of New Mexico examined it. Yang Liu of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory and scientists at Caltech worked out its age.
3. Why is it unusual? - Its texture, minerals, and chemical makeup are different from most Martian meteorites. It is somewhat like Black Beauty, another water-rich Mars rock, but Black Beauty is a mix of many small volcanic fragments and formed about 2.1 billion years ago. Teghaza 001 is made of a single type of rock.

Fig: Rose-Colored Martian Meteorite Teghaza 001

How Old Is Teghaza 001?

Scientists found tiny zircon crystals inside the rock and used uranium-lead dating on them. This showed the meteorite is about 4.1 billion years old. According to Agee, it is the oldest Martian igneous rock ever found, and by a wide margin. Most Martian meteorites are only around 200 million years old.

What Does Teghaza 001 Tell Us About Mars?

Was Mars once Earth-like? - The rock’s unusual oxygen isotopes and changed minerals suggest that water and other fluids once flowed through it. This supports the idea that early Mars was warmer, wetter and more geologically active than the cold, dry planet we see today.

The rock also has a high amount of manganese oxide. This compound is linked to environments that can support life, and Mars rovers are trying to detect it.

What is the Pre-Noachian period? - This is the oldest geological period of Mars, from about 4.5 to 4.1 billion years ago. Mars may then have had a magnetic field, surface water and a thicker atmosphere. If life ever existed on the Martian surface, scientists say this is the most likely time.

Why Does Teghaza 001 Discovery Matter?

Teg 001 is chemically different from other Martian meteorites, so it may have come from a part of Mars that no rover has explored. Scientists have suggested the ancient southern highlands as a possible source. Finding the exact region could help plan future rover missions and sample-return missions.