Black Beauty Martian meteorite IS a SPOT-ON match with Red Planet's DARK PLAINS: boffins Scientists believe that a recently discovered Martian meteorite – dubbed Black Beauty – is representative of the "bulk background" of rocks on the surface of Mars. The 4.4 billion-year-old space stone, known as NWA7034, was found in the Moroccan desert several years ago. Black Beauty Mars meteorite A chip from Black Beauty …
> “This is showing that if you went to Mars and picked up a chunk of crust, you’d expect it to be heavily beat up, battered, broken apart and put back together,”
The only way this Black Beauty meteorite could end up in the Moroccan desert is as a result of a giant asteroid impact on Mars - one big enough to fling objects at escape velocity. It should be pretty obvious that this particular rock will show signs of being beat up, but that does not mean the rest of Mars is that way.
A similar selection bias happens with Chondrite vs other meteorite types. There are a lot more Chondrites in space than are found on the ground. But chondrites by their nature are made of stony particles bound in an organic matrix (a sort of primordial asphalt/macadam). The organic bits tend to burn up as the meteor enters our atmosphere, leaving nothing to find afterwards.
"It should be pretty obvious that this particular rock will show signs of being beat up, but that does not mean the rest of Mars is that way."
Except for the bits that, you know, have been pounded so hard chunks flew out at escape velocity.. Which according to the data to date is still a significant amount of martian real estate.
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