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Mustieles-Del-Ser P, Ruano-Gallego D, Parro V. Immunoanalytical Detection of Conserved Peptides: Refining the Universe of Biomarker Targets in Planetary Exploration. Anal Chem 2024; 96:4764-4773. [PMID: 38484023 DOI: 10.1021/acs.analchem.3c04165] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 03/27/2024]
Abstract
Ancient peptides are remnants of early biochemistry that continue to play pivotal roles in current proteins. They are simple molecules yet complex enough to exhibit independent functions, being products of an evolved biochemistry at the interface of life and nonlife. Their adsorption to minerals may contribute to their stabilization and preservation over time. To investigate the feasibility of conserved peptide sequences and structures as target biomarkers for the search for life on Mars or other planetary bodies, we conducted a bioinformatics selection of well-conserved ancient peptides and produced polyclonal antibodies for their detection using fluorescence microarray immunoassays. Additionally, we explored how adsorbing peptides to Mars-representative minerals to form organomineral complexes could affect their immunological detection. The results demonstrated that the selected peptides exhibited autonomous folding, with some of them regaining their structure, even after denaturation. Furthermore, their cognate antibodies detected their conformational features regardless of amino acid sequences, thereby broadening the spectrum of target peptide sequences. While certain antibodies displayed unspecific binding to bare minerals, we validated that peptide-mineral complexes can be detected using sandwich immunoassays, as confirmed through desorption and competitive assays. Consequently, we conclude that the diversity of peptide sequences and structures suitable for use as target biomarkers in astrobiology can be constrained to a few well conserved sets, and they can be detected even if they are adsorbed in organomineral complexes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Pedro Mustieles-Del-Ser
- Centro de Astrobiología (CAB) INTA-CSIC, Torrejón de Ardoz 28850, Spain
- Departments of Physics and Mathematics, and Automatics, Universidad de Alcalá (UAH), Alcalá de Henares 28805, Spain
| | | | - Víctor Parro
- Centro de Astrobiología (CAB) INTA-CSIC, Torrejón de Ardoz 28850, Spain
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Hart R, Cardace D. Mineral Indicators of Geologically Recent Past Habitability on Mars. Life (Basel) 2023; 13:2349. [PMID: 38137950 PMCID: PMC10744562 DOI: 10.3390/life13122349] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/07/2023] [Revised: 11/25/2023] [Accepted: 12/05/2023] [Indexed: 12/24/2023] Open
Abstract
We provide new support for habitable microenvironments in the near-subsurface of Mars, hosted in Fe- and Mg-rich rock units, and present a list of minerals that can serve as indicators of specific water-rock reactions in recent geologic paleohabitats for follow-on study. We modeled, using a thermodynamic basis without selective phase suppression, the reactions of published Martian meteorites and Jezero Crater igneous rock compositions and reasonable planetary waters (saline, alkaline waters) using Geochemist's Workbench Ver. 12.0. Solid-phase inputs were meteorite compositions for ALH 77005, Nakhla, and Chassigny, and two rock units from the Mars 2020 Perseverance rover sites, Máaz and Séítah. Six plausible Martian groundwater types [NaClO4, Mg(ClO4)2, Ca(ClO4)2, Mg-Na2(ClO4)2, Ca-Na2(ClO4)2, Mg-Ca(ClO4)2] and a unique Mars soil-water analog solution (dilute saline solution) named "Rosy Red", related to the Phoenix Lander mission, were the aqueous-phase inputs. Geophysical conditions were tuned to near-subsurface Mars (100 °C or 373.15 K, associated with residual heat from a magmatic system, impact event, or a concentration of radionuclides, and 101.3 kPa, similar to <10 m depth). Mineral products were dominated by phyllosilicates such as serpentine-group minerals in most reaction paths, but differed in some important indicator minerals. Modeled products varied in physicochemical properties (pH, Eh, conductivity), major ion activities, and related gas fugacities, with different ecological implications. The microbial habitability of pore spaces in subsurface groundwater percolation systems was interrogated at equilibrium in a thermodynamic framework, based on Gibbs Free Energy Minimization. Models run with the Chassigny meteorite produced the overall highest H2 fugacity. Models reliant on the Rosy Red soil-water analog produced the highest sustained CH4 fugacity (maximum values observed for reactant ALH 77005). In general, Chassigny meteorite protoliths produced the best yield regarding Gibbs Free Energy, from an astrobiological perspective. Occurrences of serpentine and saponite across models are key: these minerals have been observed using CRISM spectral data, and their formation via serpentinization would be consistent with geologically recent-past H2 and CH4 production and sustained energy sources for microbial life. We list index minerals to be used as diagnostic for paleo water-rock models that could have supported geologically recent-past microbial activity, and suggest their application as criteria for future astrobiology study-site selections.
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Affiliation(s)
- Roger Hart
- Department of Physics and Engineering, Community College of Rhode Island, Lincoln, RI 02865, USA
- Department of Geosciences, University of Rhode Island, Kingston, RI 02881, USA;
| | - Dawn Cardace
- Department of Geosciences, University of Rhode Island, Kingston, RI 02881, USA;
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3
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Rempfert KR, Kraus EA, Nothaft DB, Dildar N, Spear JR, Sepúlveda J, Templeton AS. Intact polar lipidome and membrane adaptations of microbial communities inhabiting serpentinite-hosted fluids. Front Microbiol 2023; 14:1198786. [PMID: 38029177 PMCID: PMC10667739 DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2023.1198786] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/02/2023] [Accepted: 09/25/2023] [Indexed: 12/01/2023] Open
Abstract
The generation of hydrogen and reduced carbon compounds during serpentinization provides sustained energy for microorganisms on Earth, and possibly on other extraterrestrial bodies (e.g., Mars, icy satellites). However, the geochemical conditions that arise from water-rock reaction also challenge the known limits of microbial physiology, such as hyperalkaline pH, limited electron acceptors and inorganic carbon. Because cell membranes act as a primary barrier between a cell and its environment, lipids are a vital component in microbial acclimation to challenging physicochemical conditions. To probe the diversity of cell membrane lipids produced in serpentinizing settings and identify membrane adaptations to this environment, we conducted the first comprehensive intact polar lipid (IPL) biomarker survey of microbial communities inhabiting the subsurface at a terrestrial site of serpentinization. We used an expansive, custom environmental lipid database that expands the application of targeted and untargeted lipodomics in the study of microbial and biogeochemical processes. IPLs extracted from serpentinite-hosted fluid communities were comprised of >90% isoprenoidal and non-isoprenoidal diether glycolipids likely produced by archaeal methanogens and sulfate-reducing bacteria. Phospholipids only constituted ~1% of the intact polar lipidome. In addition to abundant diether glycolipids, betaine and trimethylated-ornithine aminolipids and glycosphingolipids were also detected, indicating pervasive membrane modifications in response to phosphate limitation. The carbon oxidation state of IPL backbones was positively correlated with the reduction potential of fluids, which may signify an energy conservation strategy for lipid synthesis. Together, these data suggest microorganisms inhabiting serpentinites possess a unique combination of membrane adaptations that allow for their survival in polyextreme environments. The persistence of IPLs in fluids beyond the presence of their source organisms, as indicated by 16S rRNA genes and transcripts, is promising for the detection of extinct life in serpentinizing settings through lipid biomarker signatures. These data contribute new insights into the complexity of lipid structures generated in actively serpentinizing environments and provide valuable context to aid in the reconstruction of past microbial activity from fossil lipid records of terrestrial serpentinites and the search for biosignatures elsewhere in our solar system.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kaitlin R. Rempfert
- Department of Geological Sciences, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO, United States
| | - Emily A. Kraus
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Colorado School of Mines, Golden, CO, United States
| | - Daniel B. Nothaft
- Department of Geological Sciences, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO, United States
| | - Nadia Dildar
- Department of Geological Sciences, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO, United States
| | - John R. Spear
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Colorado School of Mines, Golden, CO, United States
- Department of Quantitative Biosciences and Engineering, Colorado School of Mines, Golden, CO, United States
| | - Julio Sepúlveda
- Department of Geological Sciences, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO, United States
| | - Alexis S. Templeton
- Department of Geological Sciences, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO, United States
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4
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Nikitczuk MP, Bebout GE, Geiger CA, Ota T, Kunihiro T, Mustard JF, Halldórsson SA, Nakamura E. Nitrogen Incorporation in Potassic and Micro- and Meso-Porous Minerals: Potential Biogeochemical Records and Targets for Mars Sampling. ASTROBIOLOGY 2022; 22:1293-1309. [PMID: 36074082 PMCID: PMC9618379 DOI: 10.1089/ast.2021.0158] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/01/2021] [Accepted: 06/27/2022] [Indexed: 06/15/2023]
Abstract
We measured the N concentrations and isotopic compositions of 44 samples of terrestrial potassic and micro- and meso-porous minerals and a small number of whole-rocks to determine the extent to which N is incorporated and stored during weathering and low-temperature hydrothermal alteration in Mars surface/near-surface environments. The selection of these minerals and other materials was partly guided by the study of altered volcanic glass from Antarctica and Iceland, in which the incorporation of N as NH4+ in phyllosilicates is indicated by correlated concentrations of N and the LILEs (i.e., K, Ba, Rb, Cs), with scatter likely related to the presence of exchanged, occluded/trapped, or encapsulated organic/inorganic N occurring within structural cavities (e.g., in zeolites). The phyllosilicates, zeolites, and sulfates analyzed in this study contain between 0 and 99,120 ppm N and have δ15Nair values of -34‰ to +65‰. Most of these minerals, and the few siliceous hydrothermal deposits that were analyzed, have δ15N consistent with the incorporation of biologically processed N during low-temperature hydrothermal or weathering processes. Secondary ion mass spectrometry on altered hyaloclastites demonstrates the residency of N in smectites and zeolites, and silica. We suggest that geological materials known on Earth to incorporate and store N and known to be abundant at, or near, the surface of Mars should be considered targets for upcoming Mars sample return with the intent to identify any signs of ancient or modern life.
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Affiliation(s)
- Matthew P. Nikitczuk
- Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Lehigh University, Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, USA
| | - Gray E. Bebout
- Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Lehigh University, Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, USA
- Pheasant Memorial Laboratory for Geochemistry and Cosmochemistry, Institute for Planetary Materials, Okayama University, Misasa, Japan
| | - Charles A. Geiger
- Universität Salzburg, Fachbereich Chemie und Physik der Materialien, Salzburg, Austria
| | - Tsutomu Ota
- Pheasant Memorial Laboratory for Geochemistry and Cosmochemistry, Institute for Planetary Materials, Okayama University, Misasa, Japan
| | - Takuya Kunihiro
- Pheasant Memorial Laboratory for Geochemistry and Cosmochemistry, Institute for Planetary Materials, Okayama University, Misasa, Japan
| | - John F. Mustard
- Department of Earth, Environmental and Planetary Sciences, Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island, USA
| | - Sæmundur A. Halldórsson
- Nordic Volcanological Center, Institute of Earth Sciences, University of Iceland, Reykjavík, Iceland
| | - Eizo Nakamura
- Pheasant Memorial Laboratory for Geochemistry and Cosmochemistry, Institute for Planetary Materials, Okayama University, Misasa, Japan
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5
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Wiens RC, Udry A, Beyssac O, Quantin-Nataf C, Mangold N, Cousin A, Mandon L, Bosak T, Forni O, McLennan SM, Sautter V, Brown A, Benzerara K, Johnson JR, Mayhew L, Maurice S, Anderson RB, Clegg SM, Crumpler L, Gabriel TSJ, Gasda P, Hall J, Horgan BHN, Kah L, Legett C, Madariaga JM, Meslin PY, Ollila AM, Poulet F, Royer C, Sharma SK, Siljeström S, Simon JI, Acosta-Maeda TE, Alvarez-Llamas C, Angel SM, Arana G, Beck P, Bernard S, Bertrand T, Bousquet B, Castro K, Chide B, Clavé E, Cloutis E, Connell S, Dehouck E, Dromart G, Fischer W, Fouchet T, Francis R, Frydenvang J, Gasnault O, Gibbons E, Gupta S, Hausrath EM, Jacob X, Kalucha H, Kelly E, Knutsen E, Lanza N, Laserna J, Lasue J, Le Mouélic S, Leveille R, Lopez Reyes G, Lorenz R, Manrique JA, Martinez-Frias J, McConnochie T, Melikechi N, Mimoun D, Montmessin F, Moros J, Murdoch N, Pilleri P, Pilorget C, Pinet P, Rapin W, Rull F, Schröder S, Shuster DL, Smith RJ, Stott AE, Tarnas J, Turenne N, Veneranda M, Vogt DS, Weiss BP, Willis P, Stack KM, Williford KH, Farley KA. Compositionally and density stratified igneous terrain in Jezero crater, Mars. SCIENCE ADVANCES 2022; 8:eabo3399. [PMID: 36007007 PMCID: PMC9410274 DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.abo3399] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/07/2022] [Accepted: 05/31/2022] [Indexed: 06/15/2023]
Abstract
Before Perseverance, Jezero crater's floor was variably hypothesized to have a lacustrine, lava, volcanic airfall, or aeolian origin. SuperCam observations in the first 286 Mars days on Mars revealed a volcanic and intrusive terrain with compositional and density stratification. The dominant lithology along the traverse is basaltic, with plagioclase enrichment in stratigraphically higher locations. Stratigraphically lower, layered rocks are richer in normative pyroxene. The lowest observed unit has the highest inferred density and is olivine-rich with coarse (1.5 millimeters) euhedral, relatively unweathered grains, suggesting a cumulate origin. This is the first martian cumulate and shows similarities to martian meteorites, which also express olivine disequilibrium. Alteration materials including carbonates, sulfates, perchlorates, hydrated silicates, and iron oxides are pervasive but low in abundance, suggesting relatively brief lacustrine conditions. Orbital observations link the Jezero floor lithology to the broader Nili-Syrtis region, suggesting that density-driven compositional stratification is a regional characteristic.
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Affiliation(s)
- Roger C. Wiens
- Space and Planetary Exploration Team, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, NM, USA
| | - Arya Udry
- Department of Geoscience, University of Nevada Las Vegas, Las Vegas, NV, USA
| | - Olivier Beyssac
- Institut de Minéralogie, de Physique des Matériaux et de Cosmochimie, CNRS, Sorbonne Université, Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle, Paris, France
| | - Cathy Quantin-Nataf
- Laboratoire de Géologie de Lyon, Université de Lyon, Université Claude Bernard Lyon1, Ecole Normale Supérieure de Lyon, Université Jean Monnet Saint Etienne, CNRS, Villeurbanne, France
| | - Nicolas Mangold
- Laboratoire de Planétologie et Géosciences, CNRS UMR 6112, Nantes Université, Université d’Angers, Université du Mans, Nantes, France
| | - Agnès Cousin
- Institut de Recherche en Astrophysique et Planetologie (IRAP), Université de Toulouse 3 Paul Sabatier, UPS, CNRS, CNES, Toulouse, France
| | - Lucia Mandon
- Laboratoire d’Etudes Spatiales et d’Instrumentation en Astrophysique, Observatoire de Paris-PSL, CNRS, Sorbonne Université, Université de Paris Cité, Meudon, France
| | - Tanja Bosak
- Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA
| | - Olivier Forni
- Institut de Recherche en Astrophysique et Planetologie (IRAP), Université de Toulouse 3 Paul Sabatier, UPS, CNRS, CNES, Toulouse, France
| | | | - Violaine Sautter
- Institut de Minéralogie, de Physique des Matériaux et de Cosmochimie, CNRS, Sorbonne Université, Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle, Paris, France
| | | | - Karim Benzerara
- Institut de Minéralogie, de Physique des Matériaux et de Cosmochimie, CNRS, Sorbonne Université, Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle, Paris, France
| | - Jeffrey R. Johnson
- Space Exploration Sector, Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, Laurel, MD, USA
| | - Lisa Mayhew
- Department of Geological Sciences, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO, USA
| | - Sylvestre Maurice
- Institut de Recherche en Astrophysique et Planetologie (IRAP), Université de Toulouse 3 Paul Sabatier, UPS, CNRS, CNES, Toulouse, France
| | - Ryan B. Anderson
- U.S. Geological Survey Astrogeology Science Center, Flagstaff, AZ, USA
| | - Samuel M. Clegg
- Space and Planetary Exploration Team, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, NM, USA
| | - Larry Crumpler
- New Mexico Museum of Natural History, Albuquerque, NM, USA
| | | | - Patrick Gasda
- Space and Planetary Exploration Team, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, NM, USA
| | - James Hall
- Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA
| | - Briony H. N. Horgan
- Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, USA
| | - Linda Kah
- Earth and Planetary Sciences, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN, USA
| | - Carey Legett
- Space and Planetary Exploration Team, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, NM, USA
| | | | - Pierre-Yves Meslin
- Institut de Recherche en Astrophysique et Planetologie (IRAP), Université de Toulouse 3 Paul Sabatier, UPS, CNRS, CNES, Toulouse, France
| | - Ann M. Ollila
- Space and Planetary Exploration Team, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, NM, USA
| | - Francois Poulet
- Institut d’Astrophysique Spatiale, CNRS, Univ. Paris-Saclay, Orsay, France
| | - Clement Royer
- Laboratoire d’Etudes Spatiales et d’Instrumentation en Astrophysique, Observatoire de Paris-PSL, CNRS, Sorbonne Université, Université de Paris Cité, Meudon, France
| | | | | | - Justin I. Simon
- Center for Isotope Cosmochemistry and Geochronology, NASA Johnson Space Center, Houston, TX, USA
| | | | | | - S. Michael Angel
- Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC, USA
| | - Gorka Arana
- University of Basque Country, UPV/EHU, Leioa, Bilbao, Spain
| | - Pierre Beck
- Institut de Planétologie et d’Astrophysique de Grenoble, CNRS, Université Grenoble Alpes, Grenoble, France
| | - Sylvain Bernard
- Institut de Minéralogie, de Physique des Matériaux et de Cosmochimie, CNRS, Sorbonne Université, Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle, Paris, France
| | - Tanguy Bertrand
- Laboratoire d’Etudes Spatiales et d’Instrumentation en Astrophysique, Observatoire de Paris-PSL, CNRS, Sorbonne Université, Université de Paris Cité, Meudon, France
| | - Bruno Bousquet
- Centre Lasers Intenses et Applications, CNRS, CEA, Université de Bordeaux, Bordeaux, France
| | - Kepa Castro
- University of Basque Country, UPV/EHU, Leioa, Bilbao, Spain
| | - Baptiste Chide
- Space and Planetary Exploration Team, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, NM, USA
| | - Elise Clavé
- Centre Lasers Intenses et Applications, CNRS, CEA, Université de Bordeaux, Bordeaux, France
| | - Ed Cloutis
- University of Winnipeg, Winnipeg, MB, Canada
| | | | - Erwin Dehouck
- Laboratoire de Géologie de Lyon, Université de Lyon, Université Claude Bernard Lyon1, Ecole Normale Supérieure de Lyon, Université Jean Monnet Saint Etienne, CNRS, Villeurbanne, France
| | - Gilles Dromart
- Laboratoire de Géologie de Lyon, Université de Lyon, Université Claude Bernard Lyon1, Ecole Normale Supérieure de Lyon, Université Jean Monnet Saint Etienne, CNRS, Villeurbanne, France
| | | | - Thierry Fouchet
- Laboratoire d’Etudes Spatiales et d’Instrumentation en Astrophysique, Observatoire de Paris-PSL, CNRS, Sorbonne Université, Université de Paris Cité, Meudon, France
| | - Raymond Francis
- Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, USA
| | | | - Olivier Gasnault
- Institut de Recherche en Astrophysique et Planetologie (IRAP), Université de Toulouse 3 Paul Sabatier, UPS, CNRS, CNES, Toulouse, France
| | | | - Sanjeev Gupta
- Department of Earth Science and Engineering, Imperial College London, London, UK
| | | | - Xavier Jacob
- Institut de Mécanique des Fluides, Université de Toulouse 3 Paul Sabatier, Institut National Polytechnique de Toulouse, Toulouse, France
| | | | - Evan Kelly
- University of Hawai‘i, Honolulu, HI, USA
| | - Elise Knutsen
- Laboratoire Atmosphères, Milieux, Observations Spatiales, CNRS, Université Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines, Université Paris Saclay, Sorbonne Université, Guyancourt, France
| | - Nina Lanza
- Space and Planetary Exploration Team, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, NM, USA
| | | | - Jeremie Lasue
- Institut de Recherche en Astrophysique et Planetologie (IRAP), Université de Toulouse 3 Paul Sabatier, UPS, CNRS, CNES, Toulouse, France
| | - Stéphane Le Mouélic
- Laboratoire de Planétologie et Géosciences, CNRS UMR 6112, Nantes Université, Université d’Angers, Université du Mans, Nantes, France
| | | | | | - Ralph Lorenz
- Space Exploration Sector, Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, Laurel, MD, USA
| | | | | | | | - Noureddine Melikechi
- Department of Physics and Applied Physics, Kennedy College of Sciences, University of Massachusetts, Lowell, MA, USA
| | - David Mimoun
- Institut Supérieur de l’Aéronautique et de l’Espace (ISAE-SUPAERO), Université de Toulouse, Toulouse, France
| | - Franck Montmessin
- Laboratoire Atmosphères, Milieux, Observations Spatiales, CNRS, Université Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines, Université Paris Saclay, Sorbonne Université, Guyancourt, France
| | | | - Naomi Murdoch
- Institut Supérieur de l’Aéronautique et de l’Espace (ISAE-SUPAERO), Université de Toulouse, Toulouse, France
| | - Paolo Pilleri
- Institut de Recherche en Astrophysique et Planetologie (IRAP), Université de Toulouse 3 Paul Sabatier, UPS, CNRS, CNES, Toulouse, France
| | - Cedric Pilorget
- Institut d’Astrophysique Spatiale, CNRS, Univ. Paris-Saclay, Orsay, France
| | - Patrick Pinet
- Institut de Recherche en Astrophysique et Planetologie (IRAP), Université de Toulouse 3 Paul Sabatier, UPS, CNRS, CNES, Toulouse, France
| | - William Rapin
- Institut de Recherche en Astrophysique et Planetologie (IRAP), Université de Toulouse 3 Paul Sabatier, UPS, CNRS, CNES, Toulouse, France
| | - Fernando Rull
- Research Group ERICA, Universidad de Valladolid, Valladolid, Spain
| | - Susanne Schröder
- Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt (DLR), Institute of Optical Sensor Systems, Berlin, Germany
| | - David L. Shuster
- Department of Earth and Planetary Science, University of California, Berkeley, CA, USA
| | | | - Alexander E. Stott
- Institut Supérieur de l’Aéronautique et de l’Espace (ISAE-SUPAERO), Université de Toulouse, Toulouse, France
| | - Jesse Tarnas
- Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, USA
| | | | - Marco Veneranda
- Research Group ERICA, Universidad de Valladolid, Valladolid, Spain
| | - David S. Vogt
- Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt (DLR), Institute of Optical Sensor Systems, Berlin, Germany
| | - Benjamin P. Weiss
- Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA
| | - Peter Willis
- Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, USA
| | - Kathryn M. Stack
- Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, USA
| | - Kenneth H. Williford
- Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, USA
- Blue Marble Space Institute of Science, Seattle, WA, USA
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6
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Farley KA, Stack KM, Shuster DL, Horgan BHN, Hurowitz JA, Tarnas JD, Simon JI, Sun VZ, Scheller EL, Moore KR, McLennan SM, Vasconcelos PM, Wiens RC, Treiman AH, Mayhew LE, Beyssac O, Kizovski TV, Tosca NJ, Williford KH, Crumpler LS, Beegle LW, Bell JF, Ehlmann BL, Liu Y, Maki JN, Schmidt ME, Allwood AC, Amundsen HEF, Bhartia R, Bosak T, Brown AJ, Clark BC, Cousin A, Forni O, Gabriel TSJ, Goreva Y, Gupta S, Hamran SE, Herd CDK, Hickman-Lewis K, Johnson JR, Kah LC, Kelemen PB, Kinch KB, Mandon L, Mangold N, Quantin-Nataf C, Rice MS, Russell PS, Sharma S, Siljeström S, Steele A, Sullivan R, Wadhwa M, Weiss BP, Williams AJ, Wogsland BV, Willis PA, Acosta-Maeda TA, Beck P, Benzerara K, Bernard S, Burton AS, Cardarelli EL, Chide B, Clavé E, Cloutis EA, Cohen BA, Czaja AD, Debaille V, Dehouck E, Fairén AG, Flannery DT, Fleron SZ, Fouchet T, Frydenvang J, Garczynski BJ, Gibbons EF, Hausrath EM, Hayes AG, Henneke J, Jørgensen JL, Kelly EM, Lasue J, Le Mouélic S, Madariaga JM, Maurice S, Merusi M, Meslin PY, Milkovich SM, Million CC, Moeller RC, Núñez JI, Ollila AM, Paar G, Paige DA, Pedersen DAK, Pilleri P, Pilorget C, Pinet PC, Rice JW, Royer C, Sautter V, Schulte M, Sephton MA, Sharma SK, Sholes SF, Spanovich N, St Clair M, Tate CD, Uckert K, VanBommel SJ, Yanchilina AG, Zorzano MP. Aqueously altered igneous rocks sampled on the floor of Jezero crater, Mars. Science 2022; 377:eabo2196. [PMID: 36007009 DOI: 10.1126/science.abo2196] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/08/2023]
Abstract
The Perseverance rover landed in Jezero crater, Mars, to investigate ancient lake and river deposits. We report observations of the crater floor, below the crater's sedimentary delta, finding the floor consists of igneous rocks altered by water. The lowest exposed unit, informally named Séítah, is a coarsely crystalline olivine-rich rock, which accumulated at the base of a magma body. Fe-Mg carbonates along grain boundaries indicate reactions with CO2-rich water, under water-poor conditions. Overlying Séítah is a unit informally named Máaz, which we interpret as lava flows or the chemical complement to Séítah in a layered igneous body. Voids in these rocks contain sulfates and perchlorates, likely introduced by later near-surface brine evaporation. Core samples of these rocks were stored aboard Perseverance for potential return to Earth.
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Affiliation(s)
- K A Farley
- Division of Geological and Planetary Sciences, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91125, USA
| | - K M Stack
- Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91109, USA
| | - D L Shuster
- Department of Earth and Planetary Science, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA
| | - B H N Horgan
- Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN 47907, USA
| | - J A Hurowitz
- Department of Geosciences, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY 11794, USA
| | - J D Tarnas
- Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91109, USA
| | - J I Simon
- Center for Isotope Cosmochemistry and Geochronology, Astromaterials Research and Exploration Science Division, NASA Johnson Space Center, Houston, TX 77058, USA
| | - V Z Sun
- Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91109, USA
| | - E L Scheller
- Division of Geological and Planetary Sciences, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91125, USA
| | - K R Moore
- Division of Geological and Planetary Sciences, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91125, USA
| | - S M McLennan
- Department of Geosciences, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY 11794, USA
| | - P M Vasconcelos
- School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD 4072, Australia
| | - R C Wiens
- Planetary Exploration Team, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, NM 87545, USA
| | - A H Treiman
- Lunar and Planetary Institute, Universities Space Research Association, Houston, TX 77058, USA
| | - L E Mayhew
- Department of Geological Sciences, University of Colorado, Boulder, Boulder, CO 80309, USA
| | - O Beyssac
- Institut de Minéralogie, de Physique des Matériaux et de Cosmochimie, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Sorbonne Université, Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, 75005 Paris, France
| | - T V Kizovski
- Department of Earth Sciences, Brock University, St. Catharines, ON L2S 3A1, Canada
| | - N J Tosca
- Department of Earth Sciences, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB2 3EQ, UK
| | - K H Williford
- Blue Marble Space Institute of Science, Seattle, WA 98104, USA
| | - L S Crumpler
- New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science, Albuquerque, NM 8710, USA
| | - L W Beegle
- Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91109, USA
| | - J F Bell
- School of Earth and Space Exploration, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85287, USA
| | - B L Ehlmann
- Division of Geological and Planetary Sciences, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91125, USA
| | - Y Liu
- Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91109, USA
| | - J N Maki
- Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91109, USA
| | - M E Schmidt
- Department of Earth Sciences, Brock University, St. Catharines, ON L2S 3A1, Canada
| | - A C Allwood
- Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91109, USA
| | - H E F Amundsen
- Center for Space Sensors and Systems, University of Oslo, 2007 Kjeller, Norway
| | - R Bhartia
- Photon Systems Inc., Covina, CA 91725, USA
| | - T Bosak
- Department of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA
| | - A J Brown
- Plancius Research, Severna Park, MD 21146, USA
| | - B C Clark
- Space Science Institute, Boulder, CO 80301, USA
| | - A Cousin
- Institut de Recherche en Astrophysique et Planétologie, Université de Toulouse 3 Paul Sabatier, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Centre National d'Etude Spatiale, 31400 Toulouse, France
| | - O Forni
- Institut de Recherche en Astrophysique et Planétologie, Université de Toulouse 3 Paul Sabatier, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Centre National d'Etude Spatiale, 31400 Toulouse, France
| | - T S J Gabriel
- Astrogeology Science Center, US Geological Survey, Flagstaff, AZ 86001, USA
| | - Y Goreva
- Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91109, USA
| | - S Gupta
- Department of Earth Sciences and Engineering, Imperial College London, London SW7 2AZ, UK
| | - S-E Hamran
- Center for Space Sensors and Systems, University of Oslo, 2007 Kjeller, Norway
| | - C D K Herd
- Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB T6G 2E3, Canada
| | - K Hickman-Lewis
- Department of Earth Sciences, The Natural History Museum, London SW7 5BD, UK.,Dipartimento di Scienze Biologiche, Geologiche e Ambientali, Università di Bologna, 40126 Bologna, Italy
| | - J R Johnson
- Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, Laurel, MD 20723, USA
| | - L C Kah
- Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN 37996, USA
| | - P B Kelemen
- Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Lamont Doherty Earth Observatory of Columbia University, Palisades, NY 10964, USA
| | - K B Kinch
- Niels Bohr Institute, University of Copenhagen, 1350 Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - L Mandon
- Laboratoire d'Etudes Spatiales et d'Instrumentation en Astrophysique, Observatoire de Paris, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Sorbonne Université, Université Paris Diderot, 92195 Meudon, France
| | - N Mangold
- Laboratoire de Planétologie et Géosciences, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Nantes Université, Université Angers, 44000 Nantes, France
| | - C Quantin-Nataf
- Laboratoire de Géologie de Lyon: Terre, Université de Lyon, Université Claude Bernard Lyon1, Ecole Normale Supérieure de Lyon, Université Jean Monnet Saint Etienne, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, 69622 Villeurbanne, France
| | - M S Rice
- Department of Geology, Western Washington University, Bellingham, WA 98225 USA
| | - P S Russell
- Department of Earth, Planetary, and Space Sciences, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA
| | - S Sharma
- Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91109, USA
| | - S Siljeström
- Department of Methodology, Textiles and Medical Technology, Research Institutes of Sweden, 11486 Stockholm, Sweden
| | - A Steele
- Earth and Planetary Laboratory, Carnegie Science, Washington, DC 20015, USA
| | - R Sullivan
- Cornell Center for Astrophysics and Planetary Science, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853, USA
| | - M Wadhwa
- School of Earth and Space Exploration, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85287, USA
| | - B P Weiss
- Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91109, USA.,Department of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA
| | - A J Williams
- Department of Geological Sciences, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611, USA
| | - B V Wogsland
- Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN 37996, USA
| | - P A Willis
- Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91109, USA
| | - T A Acosta-Maeda
- Hawai'i Institute of Geophysics and Planetology, University of Hawai'i at Mānoa, Honolulu, HI 96822, USA
| | - P Beck
- Institut de Planétologie et Astrophysique de Grenoble, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Université Grenoble Alpes, 38000 Grenoble, France
| | - K Benzerara
- Institut de Minéralogie, de Physique des Matériaux et de Cosmochimie, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Sorbonne Université, Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, 75005 Paris, France
| | - S Bernard
- Institut de Minéralogie, de Physique des Matériaux et de Cosmochimie, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Sorbonne Université, Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, 75005 Paris, France
| | - A S Burton
- NASA Johnson Space Center, Houston, TX 77058, USA
| | - E L Cardarelli
- Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91109, USA
| | - B Chide
- Planetary Exploration Team, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, NM 87545, USA
| | - E Clavé
- Centre Lasers Intenses et Applications, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Commissariat à l'Energie Atomique, Université de Bordeaux, 33400 Bordeaux, France
| | - E A Cloutis
- Centre for Terrestrial and Planetary Exploration, University of Winnipeg, Winnipeg, MB R3B 2E9, Canada
| | - B A Cohen
- NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD 20771, USA
| | - A D Czaja
- Department of Geology, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, OH 45221, USA
| | - V Debaille
- Laboratoire G-Time, Université Libre de Bruxelles, 1050 Brussels, Belgium
| | - E Dehouck
- Laboratoire de Géologie de Lyon: Terre, Université de Lyon, Université Claude Bernard Lyon1, Ecole Normale Supérieure de Lyon, Université Jean Monnet Saint Etienne, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, 69622 Villeurbanne, France
| | - A G Fairén
- Centro de Astrobiología, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas-Instituto Nacional de Técnica Aeroespacial, 28850 Madrid, Spain.,Department of Astronomy, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853, USA
| | - D T Flannery
- School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, QLD 4001, Australia
| | - S Z Fleron
- Department of Geosciences and Natural Resource Management, University of Copenhagen, 1350 Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - T Fouchet
- Laboratoire d'Etudes Spatiales et d'Instrumentation en Astrophysique, Observatoire de Paris, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Sorbonne Université, Université Paris Diderot, 92195 Meudon, France
| | - J Frydenvang
- Globe Institute, University of Copenhagen, 1350 Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - B J Garczynski
- Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN 47907, USA
| | - E F Gibbons
- Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, McGill University, Montreal, QC H3A 0E8, Canada
| | - E M Hausrath
- Department of Geoscience, University of Nevada, Las Vegas, Las Vegas, NV 89154, USA
| | - A G Hayes
- Department of Astronomy, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853, USA
| | - J Henneke
- National Space Institute, Technical University of Denmark, 2800 Kongens Lyngby, Denmark
| | - J L Jørgensen
- National Space Institute, Technical University of Denmark, 2800 Kongens Lyngby, Denmark
| | - E M Kelly
- Hawai'i Institute of Geophysics and Planetology, University of Hawai'i at Mānoa, Honolulu, HI 96822, USA
| | - J Lasue
- Institut de Recherche en Astrophysique et Planétologie, Université de Toulouse 3 Paul Sabatier, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Centre National d'Etude Spatiale, 31400 Toulouse, France
| | - S Le Mouélic
- Laboratoire de Planétologie et Géosciences, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Nantes Université, Université Angers, 44000 Nantes, France
| | - J M Madariaga
- Department of Analytical Chemistry, University of the Basque Country, 48940 Leioa, Spain
| | - S Maurice
- Institut de Recherche en Astrophysique et Planétologie, Université de Toulouse 3 Paul Sabatier, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Centre National d'Etude Spatiale, 31400 Toulouse, France
| | - M Merusi
- Niels Bohr Institute, University of Copenhagen, 1350 Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - P-Y Meslin
- Institut de Recherche en Astrophysique et Planétologie, Université de Toulouse 3 Paul Sabatier, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Centre National d'Etude Spatiale, 31400 Toulouse, France
| | - S M Milkovich
- Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91109, USA
| | | | - R C Moeller
- Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91109, USA
| | - J I Núñez
- Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, Laurel, MD 20723, USA
| | - A M Ollila
- Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, NM 87545 USA
| | - G Paar
- Institute for Information and Communication Technologies, Joanneum Research, 8010 Graz, Austria
| | - D A Paige
- Department of Earth, Planetary, and Space Sciences, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA
| | - D A K Pedersen
- National Space Institute, Technical University of Denmark, 2800 Kongens Lyngby, Denmark
| | - P Pilleri
- Institut de Recherche en Astrophysique et Planétologie, Université de Toulouse 3 Paul Sabatier, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Centre National d'Etude Spatiale, 31400 Toulouse, France
| | - C Pilorget
- Institut d'Astrophysique Spatiale, Université Paris-Saclay, 91405 Orsay, France.,Institut Universitaire de France, Paris, France
| | - P C Pinet
- Institut de Recherche en Astrophysique et Planétologie, Université de Toulouse 3 Paul Sabatier, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Centre National d'Etude Spatiale, 31400 Toulouse, France
| | - J W Rice
- School of Earth and Space Exploration, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85287, USA
| | - C Royer
- Institut de Minéralogie, de Physique des Matériaux et de Cosmochimie, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Sorbonne Université, Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, 75005 Paris, France
| | - V Sautter
- Institut de Minéralogie, de Physique des Matériaux et de Cosmochimie, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Sorbonne Université, Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, 75005 Paris, France
| | - M Schulte
- Mars Exploration Program, Planetary Science Division, NASA Headquarters, Washington, DC 20546, USA
| | - M A Sephton
- Department of Earth Sciences and Engineering, Imperial College London, London SW7 2AZ, UK
| | - S K Sharma
- Hawai'i Institute of Geophysics and Planetology, University of Hawai'i at Mānoa, Honolulu, HI 96822, USA
| | - S F Sholes
- Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91109, USA
| | - N Spanovich
- Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91109, USA
| | - M St Clair
- Million Concepts, Louisville, KY 40204, USA
| | - C D Tate
- Department of Astronomy, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853, USA
| | - K Uckert
- Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91109, USA
| | - S J VanBommel
- McDonnell Center for the Space Sciences and Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, MO 63130, USA
| | | | - M-P Zorzano
- Department of Astronomy, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853, USA
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7
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Royle SH, Salter TL, Watson JS, Sephton MA. Mineral Matrix Effects on Pyrolysis Products of Kerogens Infer Difficulties in Determining Biological Provenance of Macromolecular Organic Matter at Mars. ASTROBIOLOGY 2022; 22:520-540. [PMID: 35171040 DOI: 10.1089/ast.2021.0074] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/14/2023]
Abstract
Ancient martian organic matter is likely to take the form of kerogen-like recalcitrant macromolecular organic matter (MOM), existing in close association with reactive mineral surfaces, especially iron oxides. Detecting and identifying a biological origin for martian MOM will therefore be of utmost importance for life-detection efforts at Mars. We show that Type I and Type IV kerogens provide effective analogues for putative martian MOM of biological and abiological (meteoric) provenances, respectively. We analyze the pyrolytic breakdown products when these kerogens are mixed with mineral matrices highly relevant for the search for life on Mars. We demonstrate that, using traditional thermal techniques as generally used by the Sample Analysis at Mars and Mars Organic Molecule Analyser instruments, even the breakdown products of highly recalcitrant MOM are transformed during analysis in the presence of reactive mineral surfaces, particularly iron. Analytical transformation reduces the diagnostic ability of this technique, as detected transformation products of both biological and abiological MOM may be identical (low molecular weight gas phases and benzene) and indistinguishable. The severity of transformational effects increased through calcite < kaolinite < hematite < nontronite < magnetite < goethite. Due to their representation of various habitable aqueous environments and the preservation potential of organic matter by iron, it is not advisable to completely avoid iron-rich strata. We conclude that hematite-rich localities, with evidence of extensive aqueous alteration of originally reducing phases, such as the Vera Rubin Ridge, may be relatively promising targets for identifying martian biologically sourced MOM.
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Affiliation(s)
- Samuel H Royle
- Department of Earth Science and Engineering, Imperial College London, London, UK
| | - Tara L Salter
- Department of Earth Science and Engineering, Imperial College London, London, UK
| | - Jonathan S Watson
- Department of Earth Science and Engineering, Imperial College London, London, UK
| | - Mark A Sephton
- Department of Earth Science and Engineering, Imperial College London, London, UK
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8
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Singh D, Sinha RK, Singh P, Roy N, Mukherjee S. Astrobiological Potential of Fe/Mg Smectites with Special Emphasis on Jezero Crater, Mars 2020 Landing Site. ASTROBIOLOGY 2022; 22:579-597. [PMID: 35171004 DOI: 10.1089/ast.2021.0013] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/14/2023]
Abstract
Life is known to adapt in accordance with its surrounding environment and sustainable resources available to it. Since harsh conditions would have precluded any possible aerobic evolution of life at the martian surface, it is plausible that martian life, should it exist, would have evolved in such a way as to derive energy from more optimum resources. Iron is one of the most abundant elements present in the martian crust and occurs at about twice the amount present on Earth. Clay minerals contribute to about half the iron found in soils and sediments. On Earth, clay acts as an electron donor as well as an acceptor in the carbon cycles and thereby supports a wide variety of metabolic reactions. In this context, we consider the potential of Fe/Mg smectites, one of the most widely reported hydrated minerals on Mars, for preservation of macro- and microscopic biosignatures. We proceed by understanding the environmental conditions during the formation of smectites and various microbes and metabolic processes associated with them as indicated in Earth-based studies. We also explore the possibility of biosignatures and their identification within the Mars 2020 landing site (Jezero Crater) by using the astrobiological payloads on board the Perseverance rover.
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Affiliation(s)
- Deepali Singh
- School of Environmental Sciences, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, India
| | | | - Priyadarshini Singh
- School of Environmental Sciences, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, India
| | - Nidhi Roy
- School of Environmental Sciences, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, India
| | - Saumitra Mukherjee
- School of Environmental Sciences, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, India
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9
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Authigenic Green Mica in Interflow Horizons within Late Cretaceous Deccan Volcanic Province, India and Its Genetic Implications. MINERALS 2022. [DOI: 10.3390/min12020198] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/10/2022]
Abstract
Green authigenic mica, i.e., celadonite, is commonly associated with submarine alteration of basic igneous rock. However, very few studies have reported the formation of celadonite under nonmarine conditions. An integrated study involving field investigation, petrography, mineralogy, and mineral chemistry highlighted the origin of celadonite in two clay-rich horizons (green boles) of the Late Cretaceous Deccan volcanic province. Within the Salher green bole, the celadonite occurred as the dissolution and alteration of plagioclase, volcanic glass, and pore-filling cement. In the case of the Pune green bole, the celadonite was formed by the alteration of plagioclase, pyroxene, and precipitation as film within intergranular pores, along with zeolite. The celadonite in the Salher green bole exhibited slightly lower K2O and Fe2O3 and higher Al2O3 than in the Pune. The mineral chemistry of the former showed a composition closer to ferro-aluminoceladonite. Although the mineral chemistry of celadonite overlaps with glauconite, the distinct 10 Å and 15 Å reflections in XRD, euhedral lath and honeycomb morphology under SEM, and characteristic absorption bands in VNIR spectroscopy (0.4–2.5 µm) and FTIR spectroscopy (400–4000 cm−1) identified celadonite and Fe-smectite within green boles. The green boles were formed either by the alteration of a volcaniclastic deposit in local pools of water or by the in situ alteration of the fragmentary flow top. The present study is significant due to the occurrence of celadonite in a nonmarine environment, as it otherwise forms under submarine conditions.
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10
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Mandon L, Beck P, Quantin‐Nataf C, Dehouck E, Thollot P, Loizeau D, Volat M. ROMA: A Database of Rock Reflectance Spectra for Martian In Situ Exploration. EARTH AND SPACE SCIENCE (HOBOKEN, N.J.) 2022; 9:e2021EA001871. [PMID: 35844834 PMCID: PMC9285354 DOI: 10.1029/2021ea001871] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/02/2021] [Revised: 11/16/2021] [Accepted: 11/30/2021] [Indexed: 06/15/2023]
Abstract
The ROMA database (ROck reflectance for MArtian in situ exploration, https://roma.univ-lyon1.fr) provides the reflectance spectra between 0.4 and 3-4 μm of various terrestrial, Martian, and synthetic samples, as a means to document reference measurements for comparison with data acquired by visible and near-infrared spectrometers on planetary surfaces, with a focus on current and future Martian observations by the Perseverance (Mars 2020 mission) and Rosalind Franklin (ExoMars) rovers. The main specificity of this database is to include a significant fraction of spectra of unprocessed rock, which are more realistic analogs and often have different spectral features than the fine powders more commonly analyzed in reflectance spectroscopy. Additionally, these measurements were acquired with a spectrometer whose spot size is similar to those of the SuperCam instrument (Mars 2020 mission) at a few meters from a target. Supplementary information are provided in the ROMA database: higher-level data (such as absorption band parameters) as well as sample mineralogy estimated by whole-rock X-ray diffraction analyses. Future comparisons with this database will help improve the interpretation of spectral measurements acquired on the Martian surface. This work introduces the aim of the library and its current state, but additional data on intact natural rock surfaces will likely be added in the future.
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Affiliation(s)
- L. Mandon
- Univ Lyon, Univ Lyon 1, ENSL, CNRS, LGL‐TPEVilleurbanneFrance
- Now at LESIA, Observatoire de Paris, Université PSL, CNRS, Sorbonne Université, Université de ParisMeudonFrance
| | - P. Beck
- Université Grenoble‐Alpes, CNRS, IPAG, UMR 5274GrenobleFrance
- Institut Universitaire de FranceParisFrance
| | | | - E. Dehouck
- Univ Lyon, Univ Lyon 1, ENSL, CNRS, LGL‐TPEVilleurbanneFrance
| | - P. Thollot
- Univ Lyon, Univ Lyon 1, ENSL, CNRS, LGL‐TPEVilleurbanneFrance
| | - D. Loizeau
- Université Paris‐Saclay, CNRS, Institut d’Astrophysique SpatialeOrsayFrance
| | - M. Volat
- Univ Lyon, Univ Lyon 1, ENSL, CNRS, LGL‐TPEVilleurbanneFrance
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11
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Havig JR, Kuether JE, Gangidine AJ, Schroeder S, Hamilton TL. Hot Spring Microbial Community Elemental Composition: Hot Spring and Soil Inputs, and the Transition from Biocumulus to Siliceous Sinter. ASTROBIOLOGY 2021; 21:1526-1546. [PMID: 34889663 DOI: 10.1089/ast.2019.2086] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/13/2023]
Abstract
Hydrothermal systems host microbial communities that include some of the most deeply branching members of the tree of life, and recent work has suggested that terrestrial hot springs may have provided ideal conditions for the origin of life. Hydrothermal microbial communities are a potential source for biosignatures, and the presence of terrestrial hot spring deposits in 3.48 Ga rocks as well as on the surface of Mars lends weight to a need to better understand the preservation of biosignatures in these systems. Although there are general patterns of elemental enrichment in hydrothermal water dependent on physical and geochemical conditions, the elemental composition of bulk hydrothermal microbial communities (here termed biocumulus, including cellular biomass and accumulated non-cellular material) is largely unexplored. However, recent work has suggested both bulk and spatial trace element enrichment as a potential biosignature in hot spring deposits. To elucidate the elemental composition of hot spring biocumulus samples and explore the sources of those elements, we analyzed a suite of 16 elements in hot spring water samples and corresponding biocumulus from 60 hot springs sinter samples, and rock samples from 8 hydrothermal areas across Yellowstone National Park. We combined these data with values reported in literature to assess the patterns of elemental uptake into biocumulus and retention in associated siliceous sinter. Hot spring biocumuli are of biological origin, but organic carbon comprises a minor percentage of the total mass of both thermophilic chemotrophic and phototrophic biocumulus. Instead, the majority of hot spring biocumulus is inorganic material-largely silica-and the distribution of major and trace elements mimics that of surrounding rock and soil rather than the hot spring fluids. Analyses indicate a systematic loss of biologically associated elements during diagenetic transformation of biocumulus to siliceous sinter, suggesting a potential for silica sinter to preserve a trace element biosignature.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jeff R Havig
- Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA
- Department of Plant and Microbial Biology, University of Minnesota, Saint Paul, Minnesota, USA
| | - Joshua E Kuether
- Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA
| | | | - Sarah Schroeder
- Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA
| | - Trinity L Hamilton
- Department of Plant and Microbial Biology, University of Minnesota, Saint Paul, Minnesota, USA
- BioTechnology Institute, University of Minnesota, Saint Paul, Minnesota, USA
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12
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Tarnas JD, Stack KM, Parente M, Koeppel AHD, Mustard JF, Moore KR, Horgan BHN, Seelos FP, Cloutis EA, Kelemen PB, Flannery D, Brown AJ, Frizzell KR, Pinet P. Characteristics, Origins, and Biosignature Preservation Potential of Carbonate-Bearing Rocks Within and Outside of Jezero Crater. JOURNAL OF GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH. PLANETS 2021; 126:e2021JE006898. [PMID: 34824965 PMCID: PMC8597593 DOI: 10.1029/2021je006898] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/19/2021] [Revised: 09/24/2021] [Accepted: 09/24/2021] [Indexed: 05/20/2023]
Abstract
Carbonate minerals have been detected in Jezero crater, an ancient lake basin that is the landing site of the Mars 2020 Perseverance rover, and within the regional olivine-bearing (ROB) unit in the Nili Fossae region surrounding this crater. It has been suggested that some carbonates in the margin fractured unit, a rock unit within Jezero crater, formed in a fluviolacustrine environment, which would be conducive to preservation of biosignatures from paleolake-inhabiting lifeforms. Here, we show that carbonate-bearing rocks within and outside of Jezero crater have the same range of visible-to-near-infrared carbonate absorption strengths, carbonate absorption band positions, thermal inertias, and morphologies. Thicknesses of exposed carbonate-bearing rock cross-sections in Jezero crater are ∼75-90 m thicker than typical ROB unit cross-sections in the Nili Fossae region, but have similar thicknesses to ROB unit exposures in Libya Montes. These similarities in carbonate properties within and outside of Jezero crater is consistent with a shared origin for all of the carbonates in the Nili Fossae region. Carbonate absorption minima positions indicate that both Mg- and more Fe-rich carbonates are present in the Nili Fossae region, consistent with the expected products of olivine carbonation. These estimated carbonate chemistries are similar to those in martian meteorites and the Comanche carbonates investigated by the Spirit rover in Columbia Hills. Our results indicate that hydrothermal alteration is the most likely formation mechanism for non-deltaic carbonates within and outside of Jezero crater.
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Affiliation(s)
- J. D. Tarnas
- NASA Jet Propulsion LaboratoryCalifornia Institute of TechnologyPasadenaCAUSA
| | - K. M. Stack
- NASA Jet Propulsion LaboratoryCalifornia Institute of TechnologyPasadenaCAUSA
| | - M. Parente
- Department of Electrical and Computer EngineeringUniversity of Massachusetts at AmherstAmherstMAUSA
| | - A. H. D. Koeppel
- Department of Astronomy and Planetary ScienceNorthern Arizona UniversityFlagstaffAZUSA
| | - J. F. Mustard
- Department of Earth, Environmental and Planetary SciencesBrown UniversityProvidenceRIUSA
| | - K. R. Moore
- NASA Jet Propulsion LaboratoryCalifornia Institute of TechnologyPasadenaCAUSA
| | - B. H. N. Horgan
- Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary SciencesPurdue UniversityWest LafayetteINUSA
| | - F. P. Seelos
- Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics LabLaurelMDUSA
| | - E. A. Cloutis
- Department of GeographyUniversity of WinnipegWinnipegMBCanada
| | - P. B. Kelemen
- Lahmont‐Doherty Earth Observatory, Columbia UniversityPalisadesNYUSA
| | - D. Flannery
- School of Earth and Atmospheric SciencesQueensland University of TechnologyBrisbaneQLDAustralia
| | | | - K. R. Frizzell
- Department of Earth and Planetary SciencesRutgers UniversityPiscatawayNJUSA
| | - P. Pinet
- Institut de Recherche en Astrophysique et PlanétologieToulouseFrance
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13
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Merging Perspectives on Secondary Minerals on Mars: A Review of Ancient Water-Rock Interactions in Gale Crater Inferred from Orbital and In-Situ Observations. MINERALS 2021. [DOI: 10.3390/min11090986] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/20/2023]
Abstract
Phyllosilicates, sulfates, and Fe oxides are the most prevalent secondary minerals detected on Mars from orbit and the surface, including in the Mars Science Laboratory Curiosity rover’s field site at Gale crater. These records of aqueous activity have been investigated in detail in Gale crater, where Curiosity’s X-ray diffractometer allows for direct observation and detailed characterization of mineral structure and abundance. This capability provides critical ground truthing to better understand how to interpret Martian mineralogy inferred from orbital datasets. Curiosity is about to leave behind phyllosilicate-rich strata for more sulfate-rich terrains, while the Mars 2020 Perseverance rover is in its early exploration of ancient sedimentary strata in Jezero crater. It is thus an appropriate time to review Gale crater’s mineral distribution from multiple perspectives, utilizing the range of chemical, mineralogical, and spectral measurements provided by orbital and in situ observations. This review compares orbital predictions of composition in Gale crater with higher fidelity (but more spatially restricted) in situ measurements by Curiosity, and we synthesize how this information contributes to our understanding of water-rock interaction in Gale crater. In the context of combining these disparate spatial scales, we also discuss implications for the larger understanding of martian surface evolution and the need for a wide range of data types and scales to properly reconstruct ancient geologic processes using remote methods.
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14
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Scheller EL, Swindle C, Grotzinger J, Barnhart H, Bhattacharjee S, Ehlmann BL, Farley K, Fischer WW, Greenberger R, Ingalls M, Martin PE, Osorio-Rodriguez D, Smith BP. Formation of Magnesium Carbonates on Earth and Implications for Mars. JOURNAL OF GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH. PLANETS 2021; 126:e2021JE006828. [PMID: 34422534 PMCID: PMC8378241 DOI: 10.1029/2021je006828] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/25/2021] [Accepted: 05/29/2021] [Indexed: 05/20/2023]
Abstract
Magnesium carbonates have been identified within the landing site of the Perseverance rover mission. This study reviews terrestrial analog environments and textural, mineral assemblage, isotopic, and elemental analyses that have been applied to establish formation conditions of magnesium carbonates. Magnesium carbonates form in five distinct settings: ultramafic rock-hosted veins, the matrix of carbonated peridotite, nodules in soil, alkaline lake, and playa deposits, and as diagenetic replacements within lime-and dolostones. Dominant textures include fine-grained or microcrystalline veins, nodules, and crusts. Microbial influences on formation are recorded in thrombolites, stromatolites, crinkly, and pustular laminites, spheroids, and filamentous microstructures. Mineral assemblages, fluid inclusions, and carbon, oxygen, magnesium, and clumped isotopes of carbon and oxygen have been used to determine the sources of carbon, magnesium, and fluid for magnesium carbonates as well as their temperatures of formation. Isotopic signatures in ultramafic rock-hosted magnesium carbonates reveal that they form by either low-temperature meteoric water infiltration and alteration, hydrothermal alteration, or metamorphic processes. Isotopic compositions of lacustrine magnesium carbonate record precipitation from lake water, evaporation processes, and ambient formation temperatures. Assessment of these features with similar analytical techniques applied to returned Martian samples can establish whether carbonates on ancient Mars were formed at high or low temperature conditions in the surface or subsurface through abiotic or biotic processes. The timing of carbonate formation processes could be constrained by 147Sm-143Nd isochron, U-Pb concordia, 207Pb-206Pb isochron radiometric dating as well as 3He, 21Ne, 22Ne, or 36Ar surface exposure dating of returned Martian magnesium carbonate samples.
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Affiliation(s)
- Eva L Scheller
- Division of Geological and Planetary Sciences, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, USA
| | - Carl Swindle
- Division of Geological and Planetary Sciences, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, USA
| | - John Grotzinger
- Division of Geological and Planetary Sciences, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, USA
| | - Holly Barnhart
- Division of Geological and Planetary Sciences, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, USA
| | - Surjyendu Bhattacharjee
- Division of Geological and Planetary Sciences, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, USA
| | - Bethany L Ehlmann
- Division of Geological and Planetary Sciences, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, USA
- Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, USA
| | - Ken Farley
- Division of Geological and Planetary Sciences, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, USA
| | - Woodward W Fischer
- Division of Geological and Planetary Sciences, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, USA
| | - Rebecca Greenberger
- Division of Geological and Planetary Sciences, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, USA
| | - Miquela Ingalls
- Division of Geological and Planetary Sciences, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, USA
- Department of Geosciences, Pennsylvania State University, State College, PA, USA
| | - Peter E Martin
- Division of Geological and Planetary Sciences, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, USA
- Geological Sciences Department, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, CO, USA
| | - Daniela Osorio-Rodriguez
- Division of Geological and Planetary Sciences, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, USA
| | - Ben P Smith
- Division of Geological and Planetary Sciences, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, USA
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15
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Tarnas JD, Mustard JF, Sherwood Lollar B, Stamenković V, Cannon KM, Lorand JP, Onstott TC, Michalski JR, Warr O, Palumbo AM, Plesa AC. Earth-like Habitable Environments in the Subsurface of Mars. ASTROBIOLOGY 2021; 21:741-756. [PMID: 33885329 DOI: 10.1089/ast.2020.2386] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/12/2023]
Abstract
In Earth's deep continental subsurface, where groundwaters are often isolated for >106 to 109 years, energy released by radionuclides within rock produces oxidants and reductants that drive metabolisms of non-photosynthetic microorganisms. Similar processes could support past and present life in the martian subsurface. Sulfate-reducing microorganisms are common in Earth's deep subsurface, often using hydrogen derived directly from radiolysis of pore water and sulfate derived from oxidation of rock-matrix-hosted sulfides by radiolytically derived oxidants. Radiolysis thus produces redox energy to support a deep biosphere in groundwaters isolated from surface substrate input for millions to billions of years on Earth. Here, we demonstrate that radiolysis by itself could produce sufficient redox energy to sustain a habitable environment in the subsurface of present-day Mars, one in which Earth-like microorganisms could survive wherever groundwater exists. We show that the source localities for many martian meteorites are capable of producing sufficient redox nutrients to sustain up to millions of sulfate-reducing microbial cells per kilogram rock via radiolysis alone, comparable to cell densities observed in many regions of Earth's deep subsurface. Additionally, we calculate variability in supportable sulfate-reducing cell densities between the martian meteorite source regions. Our results demonstrate that martian subsurface groundwaters, where present, would largely be habitable for sulfate-reducing bacteria from a redox energy perspective via radiolysis alone. We present evidence for crustal regions that could support especially high cell densities, including zones with high sulfide concentrations, which could be targeted by future subsurface exploration missions.
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Affiliation(s)
- J D Tarnas
- Brown University Department of Earth, Environmental and Planetary Sciences, Providence, Rhode Island, USA
- NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California, USA
| | - J F Mustard
- Brown University Department of Earth, Environmental and Planetary Sciences, Providence, Rhode Island, USA
| | | | - V Stamenković
- NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California, USA
| | - K M Cannon
- Department of Geology and Geological Engineering, Colorado School of Mines, Golden, Colorado, USA
- Space Resources Program, Colorado School of Mines, Golden, Colorado, USA
| | - J-P Lorand
- Université de Nantes Laboratoire de Planétologie et Géodynamique de Nantes, Nantes, France
| | - T C Onstott
- Princeton University Department of Geosciences, Princeton, New Jersey, USA
| | - J R Michalski
- University of Hong Kong Division of Earth & Planetary Science, Hong Kong
| | - O Warr
- University of Toronto Department of Earth Sciences, Toronto, Canada
| | - A M Palumbo
- Brown University Department of Earth, Environmental and Planetary Sciences, Providence, Rhode Island, USA
| | - A-C Plesa
- German Aerospace Center (DLR) Institute of Planetary Research, Berlin, Germany
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16
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Ruiz-Galende P, Fernández G, Torre-Fdez I, Aramendia J, Gomez-Nubla L, García-Florentino C, Castro K, Arana G, Madariaga JM. Characterization of sedimentary and volcanic rocks in Armintza outcrop (Biscay, Spain) and its implication for Oxia Planum (Mars) exploration. SPECTROCHIMICA ACTA. PART A, MOLECULAR AND BIOMOLECULAR SPECTROSCOPY 2021; 251:119443. [PMID: 33485243 DOI: 10.1016/j.saa.2021.119443] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/14/2020] [Revised: 12/29/2020] [Accepted: 01/03/2021] [Indexed: 06/12/2023]
Abstract
The landing site of the next planetary mission lead by ESA (ExoMars 2022) will be Oxia Planum. This location has been chosen due to different reasons, among them, the existence of sedimentary rocks that could host remains of organic matter. The fact that this type of rocks coexists with volcanic ones makes of high importance the study of the processes and the possible interactions that could happen among them. Therefore, in this research work the Armintza outcrop (Biscay, North of Spain) is proposed as an Oxia Planum analogue since it has the dichotomy of volcanic and sedimentary rock layers that is expected on the landing site of the ExoMars 2022 mission. As Raman and visible near infrared spectroscopies will be in the payload of the rover of that mission, they have been used to characterize the samples collected in the Armintza outcrop. With the help of these techniques, feldspars (albite mainly) and phyllosilicates (kaolinite and dickite, together with micas and chlorite minerals) have been identified as the major products on the samples, together with some weathering products (carbonates, sulphates, oxides) and apatite. Moreover, remains of kerogen have been detected in the sedimentary layers in contact with the interlayered lava flows, confirming the capability of similar sedimentary-volcanic layers to trap and store organic remains for millions of years. After establishing which compounds have volcanic or sedimentary origin, and which must be considered alteration phases, we can consider Armintza as a good Oxia Planum analogue.
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Affiliation(s)
- P Ruiz-Galende
- Department of Analytical Chemistry, University of the Basque Country UPV/EHU, P.O. Box 644, E-48080 Bilbao, Spain.
| | - G Fernández
- Department of Analytical Chemistry, University of the Basque Country UPV/EHU, P.O. Box 644, E-48080 Bilbao, Spain
| | - I Torre-Fdez
- Department of Analytical Chemistry, University of the Basque Country UPV/EHU, P.O. Box 644, E-48080 Bilbao, Spain
| | - J Aramendia
- Department of Analytical Chemistry, University of the Basque Country UPV/EHU, P.O. Box 644, E-48080 Bilbao, Spain
| | - L Gomez-Nubla
- Department of Analytical Chemistry, University of the Basque Country UPV/EHU, P.O. Box 644, E-48080 Bilbao, Spain
| | - C García-Florentino
- Department of Analytical Chemistry, University of the Basque Country UPV/EHU, P.O. Box 644, E-48080 Bilbao, Spain
| | - K Castro
- Department of Analytical Chemistry, University of the Basque Country UPV/EHU, P.O. Box 644, E-48080 Bilbao, Spain
| | - G Arana
- Department of Analytical Chemistry, University of the Basque Country UPV/EHU, P.O. Box 644, E-48080 Bilbao, Spain
| | - J M Madariaga
- Department of Analytical Chemistry, University of the Basque Country UPV/EHU, P.O. Box 644, E-48080 Bilbao, Spain
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17
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Ojha L, Karunatillake S, Karimi S, Buffo J. Amagmatic hydrothermal systems on Mars from radiogenic heat. Nat Commun 2021; 12:1754. [PMID: 33741920 PMCID: PMC7979869 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-021-21762-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/22/2020] [Accepted: 02/04/2021] [Indexed: 11/30/2022] Open
Abstract
Long-lived hydrothermal systems are prime targets for astrobiological exploration on Mars. Unlike magmatic or impact settings, radiogenic hydrothermal systems can survive for >100 million years because of the Ga half-lives of key radioactive elements (e.g., U, Th, and K), but remain unknown on Mars. Here, we use geochemistry, gravity, topography data, and numerical models to find potential radiogenic hydrothermal systems on Mars. We show that the Eridania region, which once contained a vast inland sea, possibly exceeding the combined volume of all other Martian surface water, could have readily hosted a radiogenic hydrothermal system. Thus, radiogenic hydrothermalism in Eridania could have sustained clement conditions for life far longer than most other habitable sites on Mars. Water radiolysis by radiogenic heat could have produced H2, a key electron donor for microbial life. Furthermore, hydrothermal circulation may help explain the region's high crustal magnetic field and gravity anomaly.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lujendra Ojha
- Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences. Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, Piscataway, NJ, USA.
| | - Suniti Karunatillake
- Department of Geology and Geophysics, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA, USA
| | - Saman Karimi
- Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA
| | - Jacob Buffo
- Thayer School of Engineering, Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH, USA
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18
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Knuth JM, Potter-McIntyre SL. Stable Isotope Fractionation in a Cold Spring System, Utah, USA: Insights for Sample Selection on Mars. ASTROBIOLOGY 2021; 21:235-245. [PMID: 33021813 DOI: 10.1089/ast.2019.2028] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/11/2023]
Abstract
Stable δ13C isotope analysis at hot and cold springs suggests that rapid degassing overprints carbon isotopic biosignatures even when microbial activity produces biogenic textures in the minerals. Mineral precipitation and potential biosignature preservation are evaluated at a cold spring system in Ten Mile Graben, Utah, USA, with scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, and stable carbon isotopes. Putative biogenic mineral habits such as aragonite microspheres and botryoids, and biologic materials (EPS and diatom tests) are abundant in modern mats, but the δ13C values are between +2‰ and +7.8‰, consistent with rapid CO2 degassing reported by other researchers. Multiple factors, however, influence isotopic signatures of mineral precipitates in this spring system, including rapid degassing, preferential microbial uptake of light carbon isotopes via multiple carboxylation pathways, hydrocarbon-charged fluid, and other inherited isotopic signatures in the fluid, particularly from dissolution of older limestones; therefore, it is not likely that this narrow range of isotopic ratios definitively shows an abiotic signature. A fossil vent preserves biogenic mineral habits, but not microbial body fossils. This study highlights the need for novel biosignature detection methods-and an understanding of what an abiotic signature definitively is-as we prepare for sample caching of carbonate rocks by the Mars2020 mission and future sample return.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jordan M Knuth
- Department of Geological Sciences, University of Delaware, Newark, Delaware, USA
| | - Sally L Potter-McIntyre
- School of Earth Systems and Sustainability, Southern Illinois University Carbondale, Carbondale, Illinois, USA
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19
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Joint Hapke Model and Spatial Adaptive Sparse Representation with Iterative Background Purification for Martian Serpentine Detection. REMOTE SENSING 2021. [DOI: 10.3390/rs13030500] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/22/2023]
Abstract
Visible and infrared imaging spectroscopy have greatly revolutionized our understanding of the diversity of minerals on Mars. Characterizing the mineral distribution on Mars is essential for understanding its geologic evolution and past habitability. The traditional handcrafted spectral index could be ambiguous as it may denote broad mineralogical classes, making this method unsuitable for definitive mineral investigation. In this work, the target detection technique is introduced for specific mineral mapping. We have developed a new subpixel mineral detection method by joining the Hapke model and spatially adaptive sparse representation method. Additionally, an iterative background dictionary purification strategy is proposed to obtain robust detection results. Laboratory hyperspectral image containing Mars Global Simulant and serpentine mixtures was used to evaluate and tailor the proposed method. Compared with the conventional target detection algorithms, including constrained energy minimization, matched filter, hierarchical constrained energy minimization, sparse representation for target detection, and spatially adaptive sparse representation method, the proposed algorithm has a significant improvement in accuracy about 30.14%, 29.67%, 29.41%, 9.13%, and 8.17%, respectively. Our algorithm can detect subpixel serpentine with an abundance as low as 2.5% in laboratory data. Then the proposed algorithm was applied to two well-studied Compact Reconnaissance Imaging Spectrometer for Mars images, which contain serpentine outcrops. Our results are not only consistent with the spatial distribution of Fe/Mg phyllosilicates derived by spectral indexes, but also denote what the specific mineral is. Experimental results show that the proposed algorithm enables the search for subpixel, low-abundance, and scientifically valuable mineral deposits.
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20
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Murphy RJ, Van Kranendonk MJ, Baumgartner R, Ryan C. Biogenicity of Spicular Geyserite from Te Kopia, New Zealand: Integrated Petrography, High-Resolution Hyperspectral and Elemental Analysis. ASTROBIOLOGY 2021; 21:115-135. [PMID: 33085533 DOI: 10.1089/ast.2019.2067] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/11/2023]
Abstract
Hyperspectral and micro X-ray fluorescence (μXRF) imagery were used to derive maps of mineralogy and elemental chemistry from a sample of a siliceous hot spring deposit, or sinter, collected from a landslide breccia deposit at the base of the Paeroa fault, which bounds the eastern Taupo Rift at Te Kopia, Taupo Volcanic Zone, New Zealand. The sample is of a known biogenic sinter layer from a paleo-vent area of a recently extinct alkali chloride hot spring. The aim of the study was to distinguish it from other horizons derived from nonbiogenic sources, which is of relevance to early and extraterrestrial life research, specifically to help assess the potential reliability of morphology as an indicator of biology in the geological record. In particular, the distribution of opal, a common mineral in hot springs deposits that is known to preserve microbial features, and the relative abundances of Al-OH clay and water (OH and H2O) were mapped from hyperspectral imagery and element distributions defined by μXRF element mapping. Layers within the sinter sample composed of spicular geyserite-a type of micro-columnar stromatolite-showed contrasting mineralogy and water content in comparison with interspicular clastic sediment. Whereas clay was found to be concentrated in the interspicular sediment, high water contents characterized the spicules. μXRF imagery also showed differences in the composition of the two components of the spicule-bearing layers, with interspicular sediment being enriched in K, Ti, Fe, and Rb relative to the spicules, which are enriched in Ga. The contrasting nature of the mapped components highlights the detailed upward-branching nature of the spicules, identical to those found in living microstromatolites. These discriminants show that the spicular component can be discerned from the geological background through hyperspectral and μXRF mapping and used to define morphological features that may survive burial diagenesis and metamorphism as a biosignature in deep time rocks.
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Affiliation(s)
- Richard J Murphy
- Australian Centre for Field Robotics, Department of Aerospace, Mechanical & Mechatronic Engineering, The University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia
| | - Martin J Van Kranendonk
- Australian Centre for Astrobiology, and School of Biological and Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia
| | - Raphael Baumgartner
- Australian Centre for Astrobiology, and School of Biological and Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia
| | - Chris Ryan
- Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), Canberra, Australia
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21
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Bell JF, Maki JN, Mehall GL, Ravine MA, Caplinger MA, Bailey ZJ, Brylow S, Schaffner JA, Kinch KM, Madsen MB, Winhold A, Hayes AG, Corlies P, Tate C, Barrington M, Cisneros E, Jensen E, Paris K, Crawford K, Rojas C, Mehall L, Joseph J, Proton JB, Cluff N, Deen RG, Betts B, Cloutis E, Coates AJ, Colaprete A, Edgett KS, Ehlmann BL, Fagents S, Grotzinger JP, Hardgrove C, Herkenhoff KE, Horgan B, Jaumann R, Johnson JR, Lemmon M, Paar G, Caballo-Perucha M, Gupta S, Traxler C, Preusker F, Rice MS, Robinson MS, Schmitz N, Sullivan R, Wolff MJ. The Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover Mast Camera Zoom (Mastcam-Z) Multispectral, Stereoscopic Imaging Investigation. SPACE SCIENCE REVIEWS 2021; 217:24. [PMID: 33612866 PMCID: PMC7883548 DOI: 10.1007/s11214-020-00755-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/22/2020] [Accepted: 09/25/2020] [Indexed: 05/16/2023]
Abstract
Mastcam-Z is a multispectral, stereoscopic imaging investigation on the Mars 2020 mission's Perseverance rover. Mastcam-Z consists of a pair of focusable, 4:1 zoomable cameras that provide broadband red/green/blue and narrowband 400-1000 nm color imaging with fields of view from 25.6° × 19.2° (26 mm focal length at 283 μrad/pixel) to 6.2° × 4.6° (110 mm focal length at 67.4 μrad/pixel). The cameras can resolve (≥ 5 pixels) ∼0.7 mm features at 2 m and ∼3.3 cm features at 100 m distance. Mastcam-Z shares significant heritage with the Mastcam instruments on the Mars Science Laboratory Curiosity rover. Each Mastcam-Z camera consists of zoom, focus, and filter wheel mechanisms and a 1648 × 1214 pixel charge-coupled device detector and electronics. The two Mastcam-Z cameras are mounted with a 24.4 cm stereo baseline and 2.3° total toe-in on a camera plate ∼2 m above the surface on the rover's Remote Sensing Mast, which provides azimuth and elevation actuation. A separate digital electronics assembly inside the rover provides power, data processing and storage, and the interface to the rover computer. Primary and secondary Mastcam-Z calibration targets mounted on the rover top deck enable tactical reflectance calibration. Mastcam-Z multispectral, stereo, and panoramic images will be used to provide detailed morphology, topography, and geologic context along the rover's traverse; constrain mineralogic, photometric, and physical properties of surface materials; monitor and characterize atmospheric and astronomical phenomena; and document the rover's sample extraction and caching locations. Mastcam-Z images will also provide key engineering information to support sample selection and other rover driving and tool/instrument operations decisions.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | | | - M. A. Ravine
- Malin Space Science Systems, Inc., San Diego, CA USA
| | | | | | - S. Brylow
- Malin Space Science Systems, Inc., San Diego, CA USA
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | - C. Tate
- Cornell Univ., Ithaca, NY USA
| | | | | | - E. Jensen
- Malin Space Science Systems, Inc., San Diego, CA USA
| | - K. Paris
- Arizona State Univ., Tempe, AZ USA
| | | | - C. Rojas
- Arizona State Univ., Tempe, AZ USA
| | | | | | | | - N. Cluff
- Arizona State Univ., Tempe, AZ USA
| | | | - B. Betts
- The Planetary Society, Pasadena, CA USA
| | | | - A. J. Coates
- Mullard Space Science Laboratory, Univ. College, London, UK
| | - A. Colaprete
- NASA/Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA USA
| | - K. S. Edgett
- Malin Space Science Systems, Inc., San Diego, CA USA
| | - B. L. Ehlmann
- JPL/Caltech, Pasadena, CA USA
- Caltech, Pasadena, CA USA
| | | | | | | | | | | | - R. Jaumann
- Inst. of Geological Sciences, Free University Berlin, Berlin, Germany
| | | | - M. Lemmon
- Space Science Inst., Boulder, CO USA
| | - G. Paar
- Joanneum Research, Graz, Austria
| | | | | | | | - F. Preusker
- DLR/German Aerospace Center, Berlin, Germany
| | - M. S. Rice
- Western Washington Univ., Bellingham, WA USA
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22
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Azua-Bustos A, Fairén AG, Silva CG, Carrizo D, Fernández-Martínez MÁ, Arenas-Fajardo C, Fernández-Sampedro M, Gil-Lozano C, Sánchez-García L, Ascaso C, Wierzchos J, Rampe EB. Inhabited subsurface wet smectites in the hyperarid core of the Atacama Desert as an analog for the search for life on Mars. Sci Rep 2020; 10:19183. [PMID: 33154541 PMCID: PMC7645800 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-020-76302-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/23/2020] [Accepted: 10/16/2020] [Indexed: 01/21/2023] Open
Abstract
The modern Martian surface is unlikely to be habitable due to its extreme aridity among other environmental factors. This is the reason why the hyperarid core of the Atacama Desert has been studied as an analog for the habitability of Mars for more than 50 years. Here we report a layer enriched in smectites located just 30 cm below the surface of the hyperarid core of the Atacama. We discovered the clay-rich layer to be wet (a phenomenon never observed before in this region), keeping a high and constant relative humidity of 78% (aw 0.780), and completely isolated from the changing and extremely dry subaerial conditions characteristic of the Atacama. The smectite-rich layer is inhabited by at least 30 halophilic species of metabolically active bacteria and archaea, unveiling a previously unreported habitat for microbial life under the surface of the driest place on Earth. The discovery of a diverse microbial community in smectite-rich subsurface layers in the hyperarid core of the Atacama, and the collection of biosignatures we have identified within the clays, suggest that similar shallow clay deposits on Mars may contain biosignatures easily reachable by current rovers and landers.
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Affiliation(s)
- Armando Azua-Bustos
- Centro de Astrobiología (CSIC-INTA), 28850, Madrid, Spain.
- Instituto de Ciencias Biomédicas, Facultad de Ciencias de la Salud, Universidad Autónoma de Chile, Santiago, Chile.
| | - Alberto G Fairén
- Centro de Astrobiología (CSIC-INTA), 28850, Madrid, Spain.
- Department of Astronomy, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, 14853, USA.
| | | | - Daniel Carrizo
- Centro de Astrobiología (CSIC-INTA), 28850, Madrid, Spain
| | | | | | | | - Carolina Gil-Lozano
- Centro de Astrobiología (CSIC-INTA), 28850, Madrid, Spain
- Laboratory of Planetology and Geodynamics, Université de Nantes, 44322, Nantes, France
| | | | - Carmen Ascaso
- Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales (CSIC), 28006, Madrid, Spain
| | - Jacek Wierzchos
- Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales (CSIC), 28006, Madrid, Spain
| | - Elizabeth B Rampe
- Astromaterials Research and Exploration Science Division, NASA Johnson Space Center, Houston, TX, USA
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23
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Anderson RP, Tosca NJ, Cinque G, Frogley MD, Lekkas I, Akey A, Hughes GM, Bergmann KD, Knoll AH, Briggs DEG. Aluminosilicate haloes preserve complex life approximately 800 million years ago. Interface Focus 2020; 10:20200011. [PMID: 32642055 PMCID: PMC7333908 DOI: 10.1098/rsfs.2020.0011] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 04/21/2020] [Indexed: 02/07/2023] Open
Abstract
Mudstone-hosted microfossils are a major component of the Proterozoic fossil record, particularly dominating the record of early eukaryotic life. Early organisms possessed no biomineralized parts to resist decay and controls on their fossilization in mudstones are poorly understood. Consequently, the Proterozoic fossil record is compromised-we do not know whether changing temporal/spatial patterns of microfossil occurrences reflect evolution or the distribution of favourable fossilization conditions. We investigated fossilization within the approximately 1000 Ma Lakhanda Group (Russia) and the approximately 800 Ma Svanbergfjellet and Wynniatt formations (Svalbard and Arctic Canada). Vertical sections of microfossils and surrounding matrices were extracted from thin sections by focused ion beam milling. Elemental mapping and synchrotron-based infrared microspectroscopy revealed that microfossils are surrounded by haloes rich in aluminium, probably hosted in kaolinite. Kaolinite has been implicated in Cambrian Burgess Shale-type (BST) fossilization and is known to slow the growth of degraders. The Neoproterozoic mudstone microfossil record may be biased to tropical settings conducive to kaolinite formation. These deposits lack metazoan fossils even though they share fossilization conditions with younger BST deposits that are capable of preserving non-mineralizing metazoans. Thus metazoans, at least those typically preserved in BST deposits, were probably absent from sedimentary environments before approximately 800 Ma.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ross P. Anderson
- All Souls College, University of Oxford, Oxford OX1 4AL, UK
- Department of Earth Sciences, University of Oxford, Oxford OX1 3AN, UK
| | - Nicholas J. Tosca
- Department of Earth Sciences, University of Oxford, Oxford OX1 3AN, UK
| | - Gianfelice Cinque
- Diamond Light Source, Harwell Science and Innovation Campus, Didcot OX11 ODE, UK
| | - Mark D. Frogley
- Diamond Light Source, Harwell Science and Innovation Campus, Didcot OX11 ODE, UK
| | - Ioannis Lekkas
- Diamond Light Source, Harwell Science and Innovation Campus, Didcot OX11 ODE, UK
| | - Austin Akey
- Center for Nanoscale Systems, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA
| | - Gareth M. Hughes
- Department of Materials, University of Oxford, Oxford OX1 3PH, UK
| | - Kristin D. Bergmann
- Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA
| | - Andrew H. Knoll
- Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA
| | - Derek E. G. Briggs
- Department of Geology and Geophysics, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06511, USA
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24
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Mangold N, Dromart G, Ansan V, Salese F, Kleinhans MG, Massé M, Quantin-Nataf C, Stack KM. Fluvial Regimes, Morphometry, and Age of Jezero Crater Paleolake Inlet Valleys and Their Exobiological Significance for the 2020 Rover Mission Landing Site. ASTROBIOLOGY 2020; 20:994-1013. [PMID: 32466668 DOI: 10.1089/ast.2019.2132] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/16/2023]
Abstract
Jezero crater has been selected as the landing site for the Mars 2020 Perseverance rover, because it contains a paleolake with two fan-deltas, inlet and outlet valleys. Using the data from the High Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC) and the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE), we conducted a quantitative geomorphological study of the inlet valleys of the Jezero paleolake. Results show that the strongest erosion is related to a network of deep valleys that cut into the highland bedrock well upstream of the Jezero crater and likely formed before the formation of the regional olivine-rich unit. In contrast, the lower sections of valleys display poor bedrock erosion and a lack of tributaries but are characterized by the presence of pristine landforms interpreted as fluvial bars from preserved channels, the discharge rates of which have been estimated at 103-104 m3s-1. The valleys' lower sections postdate the olivine-rich unit, are linked directly to the fan-deltas, and are thus formed in an energetic, late stage of activity. Although a Late Noachian age for the fan-deltas' formation is not excluded based on crosscutting relationships and crater counts, this indicates evidence of a Hesperian age with significant implications for exobiology.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nicolas Mangold
- Laboratoire Planétologie et Géodynamique, UMR6112 CNRS, Faculté des Sciences, Université de Nantes, Nantes, France
| | - Gilles Dromart
- Univ Lyon, ENSL, Univ Lyon 1, CNRS, LGL-TPE, Lyon, France
| | - Veronique Ansan
- Laboratoire Planétologie et Géodynamique, UMR6112 CNRS, Faculté des Sciences, Université de Nantes, Nantes, France
| | - Francesco Salese
- Faculty of Geosciences, Utrecht University, Utrecht, The Netherlands
- International Research School of Planetary Sciences, Università Gabriele D'Annunzio, Pescara, Italy
| | | | - Marion Massé
- Laboratoire Planétologie et Géodynamique, UMR6112 CNRS, Faculté des Sciences, Université de Nantes, Nantes, France
| | | | - Kathryn M Stack
- Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California, USA
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25
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Newman SA, Lincoln SA, O'Reilly S, Liu X, Shock EL, Kelemen PB, Summons RE. Lipid Biomarker Record of the Serpentinite-Hosted Ecosystem of the Samail Ophiolite, Oman and Implications for the Search for Biosignatures on Mars. ASTROBIOLOGY 2020; 20:830-845. [PMID: 32648829 DOI: 10.1089/ast.2019.2066] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/11/2023]
Abstract
Serpentinization is a weathering process in which ultramafic rocks react with water, generating a range of products, including serpentine and other minerals, in addition to H2 and low-molecular-weight hydrocarbons that are capable of sustaining microbial life. Lipid biomarker analyses of serpentinite-hosted ecosystems hold promise as tools for investigating microbial activity in ancient Earth environments and other terrestrial planets such as Mars because lipids have the potential for longer term preservation relative to DNA, proteins, and other more labile organic molecules. Here, we report the first lipid biomarker record of microbial activity in the mantle section of the Samail Ophiolite, in the Sultanate of Oman, a site undergoing active serpentinization. We detected isoprenoidal (archaeal) and branched (bacterial) glycerol dialkyl glycerol tetraether (GDGT) lipids, including those with 0-3 cyclopentane moieties, and crenarchaeol, an isoprenoidal GDGT containing four cyclopentane and one cyclohexane moieties, as well as monoether lipids and fatty acids indicative of sulfate-reducing bacteria. Comparison of our geochemical data and 16S rRNA data from the Samail Ophiolite with those from other serpentinite-hosted sites identifies the existence of a common core serpentinization microbiome. In light of these findings, we also discuss the preservation potential of serpentinite lipid biomarker assemblages on Earth and Mars. Continuing investigations of the Samail Ophiolite and other terrestrial analogues will enhance our understanding of microbial habitability and diversity in serpentinite-hosted environments on Earth and elsewhere in the Solar System.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sharon A Newman
- Department of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts
- Division of Geological and Planetary Sciences, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California
| | - Sara A Lincoln
- Department of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts
- Department of Geosciences, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania
| | - Shane O'Reilly
- Department of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts
- School of Earth Sciences, University College Dublin, Belfield, Ireland
| | - Xiaolei Liu
- Department of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts
- School of Geology and Geophysics, University of Oklahoma, Norman, Oklahoma
| | - Everett L Shock
- School of Earth and Space Exploration, Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona
- School of Molecular Sciences, Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona
- Center for Fundamental and Applied Microbiomics, Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona
| | - Peter B Kelemen
- Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, Columbia University, Palisades, New York
| | - Roger E Summons
- Department of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts
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26
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Scheller EL, Ehlmann BL. Composition, Stratigraphy, and Geological History of the Noachian Basement Surrounding the Isidis Impact Basin. JOURNAL OF GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH. PLANETS 2020; 125:e2019JE006190. [PMID: 34422533 PMCID: PMC8378244 DOI: 10.1029/2019je006190] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/03/2019] [Accepted: 02/11/2020] [Indexed: 05/29/2023]
Abstract
The western part of the Isidis basin structure hosts a well-characterized Early Noachian to Amazonian stratigraphy. The Noachian Basement comprises its oldest exposed rocks (Early to Mid-Noachian) and was previously considered a single low-Ca pyroxenes (LCP)- and Fe/Mg-smectite-bearing unit. Here, we divide the Noachian Basement Group into five distinct geological units (Stratified Basement Unit, Blue Fractured Unit, Mixed Lithology Plains Unit, LCP-bearing Plateaus Unit, and Fe/Mg-smectite-bearing Mounds Unit), two geomorphological features (megabreccia and ridges), and a mineral deposit (kaolinite-bearing bright materials), based on geomorphology, spectral characteristics, and stratigraphic relationships. Megabreccia contain four different pre-Isidis lithologies, possibly including deeper crust or mantle materials, formed through mass wasting associated with transient crater collapse during Isidis basin formation. The Fe/Mg-smectite-bearing Stratified Basement Unit and LCP-bearing Blue Fractured Unit likewise represent pre-Isidis units within the Noachian Basement Group. Multiple Fe/Mg-smectite-bearing geological units with different stratigraphic positions and younger kaolinite-bearing bright materials indicate several aqueous alteration episodes of different ages and styles. Units with slight changes in pyroxene spectral properties suggest a transition from low-Ca pyroxene-containing materials to those with higher proportions of pyroxenes higher in Ca and/or glass that could be related to different impact and/or igneous processes, or provenance. This long history of Noachian and potentially Pre-Noachian geological processes, including impact basin formation, aqueous alteration, and multiple igneous and sedimentary petrogeneses, records changing ancient Mars environmental conditions. All units defined by this study are available 20 km outside of Jezero crater for in situ analysis and sampling during a potential extended mission scenario for the Mars 2020 rover.
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Affiliation(s)
- Eva L Scheller
- Division of Geological and Planetary Sciences, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, USA
| | - Bethany L Ehlmann
- Division of Geological and Planetary Sciences, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, USA
- Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, USA
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27
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Sun VZ, Milliken RE. Characterizing the Mineral Assemblages of Hot Spring Environments and Applications to Mars Orbital Data. ASTROBIOLOGY 2020; 20:453-474. [PMID: 31545076 DOI: 10.1089/ast.2018.2003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/10/2023]
Abstract
Certain martian hydrated silica deposits have been hypothesized to represent ancient hot spring environments, but many environments can produce hydrated silica on Earth. This study compares the mineral assemblages produced in terrestrial hot springs to those observed in silica-producing volcanic fumarolic environments to determine which diagnostic features of hot springs could be remotely sensed on Mars. We find that hot spring environments are more likely to produce geochemically mature silica (i.e., opal-CT and microcrystalline quartz) in addition to opal-A, whereas volcanic fumarolic environments tend to produce only opal-A, potentially reflecting differences in water-to-rock ratios. Neutral/alkaline hot springs contain few accessory minerals (typically calcite and Fe/Mg clays), while acidic hot springs commonly contain accessory kaolinite. By comparison, mineral assemblages at volcanic fumaroles contain protolith igneous minerals and a diversity of alteration minerals indicative of acidic conditions. Based on these terrestrial observations, the presence of opal-CT and/or microcrystalline quartz could be more diagnostic of a hot spring origin rather than a fumarolic origin, and accessory mineralogy could provide information on formation pH. On Mars, we observe that most orbital opal detections in outcrop are opal-A, sometimes accompanied by Fe/Mg clays, suggestive of neutral/alkaline conditions. However, these observations do not uniquely distinguish between hot springs and fumarolic environments, as opal-A can occur in both environments. Many martian silica detections occur in regionally extensive units, and sometimes in association with fluvial landforms suggesting a detrital or lower temperature authigenic origin. Thus, only a few martian opal detections may be mineralogically, spatially, and morphologically consistent with a hot spring origin. However, although it is difficult to unambiguously identify martian hot spring environments from orbital data sets, the orbital data are still valuable for identifying siliceous sites that are consistent with higher biosignature preservation potential, that is, sites with opal-A (not opal-CT), for future in situ investigations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Vivian Z Sun
- Department of Earth, Environmental, and Planetary Sciences, Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island
- Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California
| | - Ralph E Milliken
- Department of Earth, Environmental, and Planetary Sciences, Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island
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28
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Brown AJ, Viviano CE, Goudge TA. Olivine-Carbonate Mineralogy of the Jezero Crater Region. JOURNAL OF GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH. PLANETS 2020; 125:e2019JE006011. [PMID: 33123452 PMCID: PMC7592698 DOI: 10.1029/2019je006011] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/24/2019] [Accepted: 12/18/2019] [Indexed: 05/28/2023]
Abstract
A well-preserved, ancient delta deposit, in combination with ample exposures of carbonate outcrops, makes Jezero Crater in Nili Fossae a compelling astrobiological site. We use Compact Reconnaissance Imaging Spectrometer for Mars (CRISM) observations to characterize the surface mineralogy of the crater and surrounding watershed. Previous studies have documented the occurrence of olivine and carbonates in the Nili Fossae region. We focus on correlations between these two well-studied lithologies in the Jezero crater watershed. We map the position and shape of the olivine 1 μm absorption band and find that carbonates are found in association with olivine which displays a 1 μm band shifted to long wavelengths. We then use Thermal Emission Imaging Spectrometer (THEMIS) coverage of Nili Fossae and perform tests to investigate whether the long wavelength shifted (redshifted) olivine signature is correlated with high thermal inertia outcrops. We find that there is no consistent correlation between thermal inertia and the unique olivine signature. We discuss a range of formation scenarios for the olivine and carbonate associations, including the possibility that these lithologies are products of serpentinization reactions on early Mars. These lithologies provide an opportunity for deepening our understanding of early Mars and, given their antiquity, may provide a framework to study the timing of valley networks and the thermal history of the Martian crust and interior from the early Noachian to today.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - C. E. Viviano
- Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory, Laurel, MD, USA
| | - T. A. Goudge
- Department of Geological Sciences, Jackson School of Geosciences, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, USA
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29
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Vance SD, Melwani Daswani M. Serpentinite and the search for life beyond Earth. PHILOSOPHICAL TRANSACTIONS. SERIES A, MATHEMATICAL, PHYSICAL, AND ENGINEERING SCIENCES 2020; 378:20180421. [PMID: 31902342 DOI: 10.1098/rsta.2018.0421] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 11/27/2019] [Indexed: 06/10/2023]
Abstract
Hydrogen from serpentinization is a source of chemical energy for some life forms on Earth. It is a potential fuel for life in the subsurface of Mars and in the icy ocean worlds in the outer solar system. Serpentinization is also implicated in life's origin. Planetary exploration offers a way to investigate such theories by characterizing and ultimately searching for life in geochemical settings that no longer exist on Earth. At present, much of the current context of serpentinization on other worlds relies on inference from modelling and studies on Earth. While there is evidence from orbital spectral imaging and martian meteorites that serpentinization has occurred on Mars, the extent and duration of that activity has not been constrained. Similarly, ongoing serpentinization might explain hydrogen found in the ocean of Saturn's tiny moon Enceladus, but this raises questions about how long such activity has persisted. Titan's hydrocarbon-rich atmosphere may derive from ancient or present-day serpentinization at the bottom of its ocean. In Europa, volcanism or serpentinization may provide hydrogen as a redox couple to oxygen generated at the moon's surface. We assess the potential extent of serpentinization in the solar system's wet and rocky worlds, assuming that microfracturing from thermal expansion anisotropy sets an upper limit on the percolation depth of surface water into the rocky interiors. In this bulk geophysical model, planetary cooling from radiogenic decay implies the infiltration of water to greater depths through time, continuing to the present. The serpentinization of this newly exposed rock is assessed as a significant source of global hydrogen. Comparing the computed hydrogen and surface-generated oxygen delivered to Europa's ocean reveals redox fluxes similar to Earth's. Planned robotic exploration missions to other worlds can aid in understanding the planetary context of serpentinization, testing the predictions herein. This article is part of a discussion meeting issue 'Serpentinite in the Earth System'.
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Affiliation(s)
- S D Vance
- Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91109-8001, USA
| | - M Melwani Daswani
- Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91109-8001, USA
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30
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Des Marais DJ, Walter MR. Terrestrial Hot Spring Systems: Introduction. ASTROBIOLOGY 2019; 19:1419-1432. [PMID: 31424278 PMCID: PMC6918855 DOI: 10.1089/ast.2018.1976] [Citation(s) in RCA: 27] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/15/2018] [Accepted: 03/02/2019] [Indexed: 05/19/2023]
Abstract
This report reviews how terrestrial hot spring systems can sustain diverse and abundant microbial communities and preserve their fossil records. Hot springs are dependable water sources, even in arid environments. They deliver reduced chemical species and other solutes to more oxidized surface environments, thereby providing redox energy and nutrients. Spring waters have diverse chemical compositions, and their outflows create thermal gradients and chemical precipitates that sustain diverse microbial communities and entomb their remnants. These environments probably were important habitats for ancient benthic microbial ecosystems, and it has even been postulated that life arose in hydrothermal systems. Thermal spring communities are fossilized in deposits of travertine, siliceous sinter, and iron minerals (among others) that are found throughout the geological record back to the oldest known well-preserved rocks at 3.48 Ga. Very few are known before the Cenozoic, but it is likely that there are many more to be found. They preserve fossils ranging from microbes to trees and macroscopic animals. Features on Mars whose morphological and spectroscopic attributes resemble spring deposits on Earth have been detected in regions where geologic context is consistent with the presence of thermal springs. Such features represent targets in the search for evidence of past life on that planet.
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Affiliation(s)
- David J. Des Marais
- Exobiology Branch, NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, California, USA
| | - Malcolm R. Walter
- Australian Centre for Astrobiology, School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia
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31
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Onstott T, Ehlmann B, Sapers H, Coleman M, Ivarsson M, Marlow J, Neubeck A, Niles P. Paleo-Rock-Hosted Life on Earth and the Search on Mars: A Review and Strategy for Exploration. ASTROBIOLOGY 2019; 19:1230-1262. [PMID: 31237436 PMCID: PMC6786346 DOI: 10.1089/ast.2018.1960] [Citation(s) in RCA: 29] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/23/2018] [Accepted: 04/25/2019] [Indexed: 05/19/2023]
Abstract
Here we review published studies on the abundance and diversity of terrestrial rock-hosted life, the environments it inhabits, the evolution of its metabolisms, and its fossil biomarkers to provide guidance in the search for life on Mars. Key findings are (1) much terrestrial deep subsurface metabolic activity relies on abiotic energy-yielding fluxes and in situ abiotic and biotic recycling of metabolic waste products rather than on buried organic products of photosynthesis; (2) subsurface microbial cell concentrations are highest at interfaces with pronounced chemical redox gradients or permeability variations and do not correlate with bulk host rock organic carbon; (3) metabolic pathways for chemolithoautotrophic microorganisms evolved earlier in Earth's history than those of surface-dwelling phototrophic microorganisms; (4) the emergence of the former occurred at a time when Mars was habitable, whereas the emergence of the latter occurred at a time when the martian surface was not continually habitable; (5) the terrestrial rock record has biomarkers of subsurface life at least back hundreds of millions of years and likely to 3.45 Ga with several examples of excellent preservation in rock types that are quite different from those preserving the photosphere-supported biosphere. These findings suggest that rock-hosted life would have been more likely to emerge and be preserved in a martian context. Consequently, we outline a Mars exploration strategy that targets subsurface life and scales spatially, focusing initially on identifying rocks with evidence for groundwater flow and low-temperature mineralization, then identifying redox and permeability interfaces preserved within rock outcrops, and finally focusing on finding minerals associated with redox reactions and associated traces of carbon and diagnostic chemical and isotopic biosignatures. Using this strategy on Earth yields ancient rock-hosted life, preserved in the fossil record and confirmable via a suite of morphologic, organic, mineralogical, and isotopic fingerprints at micrometer scale. We expect an emphasis on rock-hosted life and this scale-dependent strategy to be crucial in the search for life on Mars.
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Affiliation(s)
- T.C. Onstott
- Department of Geosciences, Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey, USA
- Address correspondence to: T.C. Onstott, Department of Geosciences, Princeton University,, Princeton, NJ 008544
| | - B.L. Ehlmann
- Division of Geological & Planetary Sciences, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California, USA
- Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California, USA
- B.L. Ehlmann, Division of Geological & Planetary Sciences, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91125
| | - H. Sapers
- Division of Geological & Planetary Sciences, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California, USA
- Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California, USA
- Department of Earth Sciences, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California, USA
| | - M. Coleman
- Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California, USA
- NASA Astrobiology Institute, Pasadena, California, USA
| | - M. Ivarsson
- Department of Biology, University of Southern Denmark, Odense, Denmark
| | - J.J. Marlow
- Department of Organismic & Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA
| | - A. Neubeck
- Department of Earth Sciences, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden
| | - P. Niles
- Astromaterials Research and Exploration Science Division, NASA Johnson Space Center, Houston, Texas, USA
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32
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Chan MA, Bowen BB, Corsetti FA, Farrand WH, Law ES, Newsom HE, Perl SM, Spear JR, Thompson DR. Exploring, Mapping, and Data Management Integration of Habitable Environments in Astrobiology. Front Microbiol 2019; 10:147. [PMID: 30891006 PMCID: PMC6412026 DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2019.00147] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/24/2018] [Accepted: 01/21/2019] [Indexed: 11/17/2022] Open
Abstract
New approaches to blending geoscience, planetary science, microbiology-geobiology/ecology, geoinformatics and cyberinfrastructure technology disciplines in a holistic effort can be transformative to astrobiology explorations. Over the last two decades, overwhelming orbital evidence has confirmed the abundance of authigenic (in situ, formed in place) minerals on Mars. On Earth, environments where authigenic minerals form provide a substrate for the preservation of microbial life. Similarly, extraterrestrial life is likely to be preserved where crustal minerals can record and preserve the biochemical mechanisms (i.e., biosignatures). The search for astrobiological evidence on Mars has focused on identifying past or present habitable environments - places that could support some semblance of life. Thus, authigenic minerals represent a promising habitable environment where extraterrestrial life could be recorded and potentially preserved over geologic time scales. Astrobiology research necessarily takes place over vastly different scales; from molecules to viruses and microbes to those of satellites and solar system exploration, but the differing scales of analyses are rarely connected quantitatively. The mismatch between the scales of these observations- from the macro- satellite mineralogical observations to the micro- microbial observations- limits the applicability of our astrobiological understanding as we search for records of life beyond Earth. Each-scale observation requires knowledge of the geologic context and the environmental parameters important for assessing habitability. Exploration efforts to search for extraterrestrial life should attempt to quantify both the geospatial context and the temporal/spatial relationships between microbial abundance and diversity within authigenic minerals at multiple scales, while assimilating resolutions from satellite observations to field measurements to microscopic analyses. Statistical measures, computer vision, and the geospatial synergy of Geographic Information Systems (GIS), can allow analyses of objective data-driven methods to locate, map, and predict where the "sweet spots" of habitable environments occur at multiple scales. This approach of science information architecture or an "Astrobiology Information System" can provide the necessary maps to guide researchers to discoveries via testing, visualizing, documenting, and collaborating on significant data relationships that will advance explorations for evidence of life in our solar system and beyond.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marjorie A. Chan
- Department of Geology and Geophysics, The University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT, United States
| | - Brenda B. Bowen
- Department of Geology and Geophysics, The University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT, United States
| | - Frank A. Corsetti
- Department of Earth Sciences, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, United States
| | | | - Emily S. Law
- Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, United States
| | - Horton E. Newsom
- Department Earth and Planetary Sciences, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM, United States
| | - Scott M. Perl
- Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, United States
| | - John R. Spear
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Colorado School of Mines, Golden, CO, United States
| | - David R. Thompson
- Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, United States
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33
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Cockell CS, Harrison JP, Stevens AH, Payler SJ, Hughes SS, Kobs Nawotniak SE, Brady AL, Elphic R, Haberle CW, Sehlke A, Beaton KH, Abercromby AF, Schwendner P, Wadsworth J, Landenmark H, Cane R, Dickinson AW, Nicholson N, Perera L, Lim DS. A Low-Diversity Microbiota Inhabits Extreme Terrestrial Basaltic Terrains and Their Fumaroles: Implications for the Exploration of Mars. ASTROBIOLOGY 2019; 19:284-299. [PMID: 30840501 PMCID: PMC6442273 DOI: 10.1089/ast.2018.1870] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/12/2023]
Abstract
A major objective in the exploration of Mars is to test the hypothesis that the planet hosted life. Even in the absence of life, the mapping of habitable and uninhabitable environments is an essential task in developing a complete understanding of the geological and aqueous history of Mars and, as a consequence, understanding what factors caused Earth to take a different trajectory of biological potential. We carried out the aseptic collection of samples and comparison of the bacterial and archaeal communities associated with basaltic fumaroles and rocks of varying weathering states in Hawai'i to test four hypotheses concerning the diversity of life in these environments. Using high-throughput sequencing, we found that all these materials are inhabited by a low-diversity biota. Multivariate analyses of bacterial community data showed a clear separation between sites that have active fumaroles and other sites that comprised relict fumaroles, unaltered, and syn-emplacement basalts. Contrary to our hypothesis that high water flow environments, such as fumaroles with active mineral leaching, would be sites of high biological diversity, alpha diversity was lower in active fumaroles compared to relict or nonfumarolic sites, potentially due to high-temperature constraints on microbial diversity in fumarolic sites. A comparison of these data with communities inhabiting unaltered and weathered basaltic rocks in Idaho suggests that bacterial taxon composition of basaltic materials varies between sites, although the archaeal communities were similar in Hawai'i and Idaho. The taxa present in both sites suggest that most of them obtain organic carbon compounds from the atmosphere and from phototrophs and that some of them, including archaeal taxa, cycle fixed nitrogen. The low diversity shows that, on Earth, extreme basaltic terrains are environments on the edge of sustaining life with implications for the biological potential of similar environments on Mars and their exploration by robots and humans.
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Affiliation(s)
- Charles S. Cockell
- UK Centre for Astrobiology, School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK
- Address correspondence to: Charles S. Cockell, School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Edinburgh, King's Buildings, Edinburgh EH9 3JZ, UK
| | - Jesse P. Harrison
- Aquatic Biogeochemistry Research Unit, Ecosystems and Environment Research Programme, Faculty of Biological and Environmental Sciences, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
- Turku Centre for Biotechnology, University of Turku and Åbo Akademi University, Turku, Finland
| | - Adam H. Stevens
- UK Centre for Astrobiology, School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK
| | - Samuel J. Payler
- UK Centre for Astrobiology, School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK
| | - Scott S. Hughes
- Department of Geosciences, Idaho State University, Pocatello, Idaho, USA
| | | | - Allyson L. Brady
- School of Geography and Earth Sciences, McMaster University, Hamilton, Canada
| | - R.C. Elphic
- NASA Ames Research Center, Mountain View, California, USA
| | | | | | | | - Andrew F.J. Abercromby
- Biomedical Research & Environmental Sciences Division (SK), NASA Johnson Space Center, Houston, Texas, USA
| | - Petra Schwendner
- UK Centre for Astrobiology, School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK
| | - Jennifer Wadsworth
- UK Centre for Astrobiology, School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK
| | - Hanna Landenmark
- UK Centre for Astrobiology, School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK
| | - Rosie Cane
- UK Centre for Astrobiology, School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK
| | - Andrew W. Dickinson
- UK Centre for Astrobiology, School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK
| | - Natasha Nicholson
- UK Centre for Astrobiology, School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK
| | - Liam Perera
- UK Centre for Astrobiology, School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK
| | - Darlene S.S. Lim
- NASA Ames Research Center, Mountain View, California, USA
- Bay Area Environmental Research Institute (BAERI), Moffett Field, California, USA
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Sehlke A, Mirmalek Z, Burtt D, Haberle CW, Santiago-Materese D, Kobs Nawotniak SE, Hughes SS, Garry WB, Bramall N, Brown AJ, Heldmann JL, Lim DS. Requirements for Portable Instrument Suites during Human Scientific Exploration of Mars. ASTROBIOLOGY 2019; 19:401-425. [PMID: 30840506 PMCID: PMC6442242 DOI: 10.1089/ast.2018.1841] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/05/2018] [Accepted: 10/28/2018] [Indexed: 05/31/2023]
Abstract
Human explorers on the surface of Mars will have access to a far wider array of scientific tools than previous crewed planetary exploration missions, but not every tool will be compatible with the restrictions of this exploration. Spectrometers on flyby, orbital, and landed missions are currently used to determine the composition and mineralogy of geological materials of various types and sizes, from small fragments to celestial bodies in the solar system. Handheld spectrometers that are capable of in situ analyses are already used for geological exploration on Earth; however, their usefulness for human exploration missions and how data from multiple handheld instruments could be combined to enhance scientific return must be further evaluated. As part of the Biologic Analog Science Associated with Lava Terrains (BASALT) research project, we incorporated two handheld instruments, a visible-near infrared spectrometer and an X-Ray Fluorescence spectrometer, into simulated Mars exploration missions conducted on basaltic terrains in Idaho and Hawai'i. To understand the data quality provided by these handheld spectrometers, we evaluated their performance under varying conditions of measurement time, distance, angle, atmosphere, and sample matrix, and we compared data quality between handheld instruments and laboratory techniques. Here, we summarize these findings, provide guidelines and requirements on how to effectively incorporate these instruments into human exploration missions to Mars, and posit that future iterations of these instruments will be beneficial for enhancing science returned from human exploration missions.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Zara Mirmalek
- Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts
- BAER Institute, Moffett Field, California
| | - David Burtt
- Department of Geosciences, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, New York
| | | | | | | | - Scott S. Hughes
- Deparment of Geosciences, Idaho State University, Pocatello, Idaho
| | | | - Nathan Bramall
- Leiden Measurement Technology LLC, Sunnyvale, California
| | | | | | - Darlene S.S. Lim
- NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, California
- BAER Institute, Moffett Field, California
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Fornaro T, Steele A, Brucato JR. Catalytic/Protective Properties of Martian Minerals and Implications for Possible Origin of Life on Mars. Life (Basel) 2018; 8:life8040056. [PMID: 30400661 PMCID: PMC6315534 DOI: 10.3390/life8040056] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/05/2018] [Revised: 10/28/2018] [Accepted: 10/30/2018] [Indexed: 11/16/2022] Open
Abstract
Minerals might have played critical roles for the origin and evolution of possible life forms on Mars. The study of the interactions between the "building blocks of life" and minerals relevant to Mars mineralogy under conditions mimicking the harsh Martian environment may provide key insight into possible prebiotic processes. Therefore, this contribution aims at reviewing the most important investigations carried out so far about the catalytic/protective properties of Martian minerals toward molecular biosignatures under Martian-like conditions. Overall, it turns out that the fate of molecular biosignatures on Mars depends on a delicate balance between multiple preservation and degradation mechanisms, often regulated by minerals, which may take place simultaneously. Such a complexity requires more efforts in simulating realistically the Martian environment in order to better inspect plausible prebiotic pathways and shed light on the nature of the organic compounds detected both in meteorites and on the surface of Mars through in situ analysis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Teresa Fornaro
- Geophysical Laboratory of the Carnegie Institution for Science, 5251 Broad Branch Rd. NW, Washington, DC 20015, USA.
| | - Andrew Steele
- Geophysical Laboratory of the Carnegie Institution for Science, 5251 Broad Branch Rd. NW, Washington, DC 20015, USA.
| | - John Robert Brucato
- INAF-Astrophysical Observatory of Arcetri, L.go E. Fermi 5, 50125 Firenze, Italy.
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Dzaugis M, Spivack AJ, D'Hondt S. Radiolytic H 2 Production in Martian Environments. ASTROBIOLOGY 2018; 18:1137-1146. [PMID: 30048152 PMCID: PMC6150936 DOI: 10.1089/ast.2017.1654] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/31/2017] [Accepted: 02/07/2018] [Indexed: 05/29/2023]
Abstract
Hydrogen, produced by water radiolysis, has been suggested to support microbial communities on Mars. We quantitatively assess the potential magnitude of radiolytic H2 production in wet martian environments (the ancient surface and the present subsurface) based on the radionuclide compositions of (1) eight proposed Mars 2020 landing sites, and (2) three sites that individually yield the highest or lowest calculated radiolytic H2 production rates on Mars. For the proposed landing sites, calculated H2 production rates vary by a factor of ∼1.6, while the three comparison sites differ by a factor of ∼6. Rates in wet martian sediment and microfractured rock are comparable with rates in terrestrial environments that harbor low concentrations of microbial life (e.g., subseafloor basalt). Calculated H2 production rates for low-porosity (<35%), fine-grained martian sediment (0.12-1.2 nM/year) are mostly higher than rates for South Pacific subseafloor basalt (∼0.02-0.6 nM/year). Production rates in martian high-porosity sediment (>35%) and microfractured (1 μm) hard rock (0.03 to <0.71 nM/year) are generally similar to rates in South Pacific basalt, while yields for larger martian fractures (1 and 10 cm) are one to two orders of magnitude lower (<0.01 nM/year). If minerals or brine that amplify radiolytic H2 production rates are present, H2 yields exceed the calculated rates.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mary Dzaugis
- Graduate School of Oceanography, University of Rhode Island, Narragansett, Rhode Island
| | - Arthur J. Spivack
- Graduate School of Oceanography, University of Rhode Island, Narragansett, Rhode Island
| | - Steven D'Hondt
- Graduate School of Oceanography, University of Rhode Island, Narragansett, Rhode Island
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37
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Abstract
Silica polymorphs, such as quartz, tridymite, cristobalite, coesite, stishovite, seifertite, baddeleyite-type SiO2, high-pressure silica glass, moganite, and opal, have been found in lunar and/or martian rocks by macro-microanalyses of the samples and remote-sensing observations on the celestial bodies. Because each silica polymorph is stable or metastable at different pressure and temperature conditions, its appearance is variable depending on the occurrence of the lunar and martian rocks. In other words, types of silica polymorphs provide valuable information on the igneous process (e.g., crystallization temperature and cooling rate), shock metamorphism (e.g., shock pressure and temperature), and hydrothermal fluid activity (e.g., pH and water content), implying their importance in planetary science. Therefore, this article focused on reviewing and summarizing the representative and important investigations of lunar and martian silica from the viewpoints of its discovery from lunar and martian materials, the formation processes, the implications for planetary science, and the future prospects in the field of “micro-mineralogy”.
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38
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McMahon S, Bosak T, Grotzinger JP, Milliken RE, Summons RE, Daye M, Newman SA, Fraeman A, Williford KH, Briggs DEG. A Field Guide to Finding Fossils on Mars. JOURNAL OF GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH. PLANETS 2018; 123:1012-1040. [PMID: 30034979 PMCID: PMC6049883 DOI: 10.1029/2017je005478] [Citation(s) in RCA: 38] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/07/2017] [Revised: 03/28/2018] [Accepted: 04/23/2018] [Indexed: 05/05/2023]
Abstract
The Martian surface is cold, dry, exposed to biologically harmful radiation and apparently barren today. Nevertheless, there is clear geological evidence for warmer, wetter intervals in the past that could have supported life at or near the surface. This evidence has motivated National Aeronautics and Space Administration and European Space Agency to prioritize the search for any remains or traces of organisms from early Mars in forthcoming missions. Informed by (1) stratigraphic, mineralogical and geochemical data collected by previous and current missions, (2) Earth's fossil record, and (3) experimental studies of organic decay and preservation, we here consider whether, how, and where fossils and isotopic biosignatures could have been preserved in the depositional environments and mineralizing media thought to have been present in habitable settings on early Mars. We conclude that Noachian-Hesperian Fe-bearing clay-rich fluvio-lacustrine siliciclastic deposits, especially where enriched in silica, currently represent the most promising and best understood astropaleontological targets. Siliceous sinters would also be an excellent target, but their presence on Mars awaits confirmation. More work is needed to improve our understanding of fossil preservation in the context of other environments specific to Mars, particularly within evaporative salts and pore/fracture-filling subsurface minerals.
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Affiliation(s)
- S. McMahon
- Department of Geology and GeophysicsYale UniversityNew HavenCTUSA
- UK Centre for Astrobiology, School of Physics and AstronomyUniversity of EdinburghEdinburghUK
| | - T. Bosak
- Department of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary SciencesMassachusetts Institute of TechnologyCambridgeMAUSA
| | - J. P. Grotzinger
- Division of Geological and Planetary SciencesCalifornia Institute of TechnologyPasadenaCAUSA
| | - R. E. Milliken
- Department of Earth, Environmental and Planetary SciencesBrown UniversityProvidenceRIUSA
| | - R. E. Summons
- Department of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary SciencesMassachusetts Institute of TechnologyCambridgeMAUSA
| | - M. Daye
- Department of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary SciencesMassachusetts Institute of TechnologyCambridgeMAUSA
| | - S. A. Newman
- Department of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary SciencesMassachusetts Institute of TechnologyCambridgeMAUSA
| | - A. Fraeman
- Jet Propulsion LaboratoryCalifornia Institute of TechnologyPasadenaCAUSA
| | - K. H. Williford
- Jet Propulsion LaboratoryCalifornia Institute of TechnologyPasadenaCAUSA
| | - D. E. G. Briggs
- Department of Geology and GeophysicsYale UniversityNew HavenCTUSA
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Soft X-ray Heterogeneous Radiolysis of Pyridine in the Presence of Hydrated Strontium-Hydroxyhectorite and its Monitoring by Near-Ambient Pressure Photoelectron Spectroscopy. Sci Rep 2018; 8:6164. [PMID: 29670155 PMCID: PMC5906652 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-018-24329-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/04/2018] [Accepted: 03/22/2018] [Indexed: 11/15/2022] Open
Abstract
The heterogeneous radiolysis of organic molecules in clays is a matter of considerable interest in astrochemistry and environmental sciences. However, little is known about the effects of highly ionizing soft X-rays. By combining monochromatized synchrotron source irradiation with in situ Near Ambient Pressure X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (in the mbar range), and using the synoptic view encompassing both the gas and condensed phases, we found the water and pyridine pressure conditions under which pyridine is decomposed in the presence of synthetic Sr2+-hydroxyhectorite. The formation of a pyridine/water/Sr2+ complex, detected from the Sr 3d and N 1s core-level binding energies, likely presents a favorable situation for the radiolytic breaking of the O-H bond of water molecules adsorbed in the clay and the subsequent decomposition of the molecule. However, decomposition stops when the pyridine pressure exceeds a critical value. This observation can be related to a change in the nature of the active radical species with the pyridine loading. This highlights the fact that the destruction of the molecule is not entirely determined by the properties of the host material, but also by the inserted organic species. The physical and chemical causes of the present observations are discussed.
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Price A, Pearson VK, Schwenzer SP, Miot J, Olsson-Francis K. Nitrate-Dependent Iron Oxidation: A Potential Mars Metabolism. Front Microbiol 2018; 9:513. [PMID: 29616015 PMCID: PMC5869265 DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2018.00513] [Citation(s) in RCA: 33] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/30/2017] [Accepted: 03/06/2018] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
This work considers the hypothetical viability of microbial nitrate-dependent Fe2+ oxidation (NDFO) for supporting simple life in the context of the early Mars environment. This draws on knowledge built up over several decades of remote and in situ observation, as well as recent discoveries that have shaped current understanding of early Mars. Our current understanding is that certain early martian environments fulfill several of the key requirements for microbes with NDFO metabolism. First, abundant Fe2+ has been identified on Mars and provides evidence of an accessible electron donor; evidence of anoxia suggests that abiotic Fe2+ oxidation by molecular oxygen would not have interfered and competed with microbial iron metabolism in these environments. Second, nitrate, which can be used by some iron oxidizing microorganisms as an electron acceptor, has also been confirmed in modern aeolian and ancient sediment deposits on Mars. In addition to redox substrates, reservoirs of both organic and inorganic carbon are available for biosynthesis, and geochemical evidence suggests that lacustrine systems during the hydrologically active Noachian period (4.1-3.7 Ga) match the circumneutral pH requirements of nitrate-dependent iron-oxidizing microorganisms. As well as potentially acting as a primary producer in early martian lakes and fluvial systems, the light-independent nature of NDFO suggests that such microbes could have persisted in sub-surface aquifers long after the desiccation of the surface, provided that adequate carbon and nitrates sources were prevalent. Traces of NDFO microorganisms may be preserved in the rock record by biomineralization and cellular encrustation in zones of high Fe2+ concentrations. These processes could produce morphological biosignatures, preserve distinctive Fe-isotope variation patterns, and enhance preservation of biological organic compounds. Such biosignatures could be detectable by future missions to Mars with appropriate instrumentation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alex Price
- Faculty of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics, The Open University, Milton Keynes, United Kingdom
| | - Victoria K. Pearson
- Faculty of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics, The Open University, Milton Keynes, United Kingdom
| | - Susanne P. Schwenzer
- Faculty of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics, The Open University, Milton Keynes, United Kingdom
| | - Jennyfer Miot
- CNRS, Institut de Minéralogie, de Physique des Matériaux et de Cosmochimie, Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle, Université Pierre et Marie Curie – Sorbonne Universités, UMR 7590, Paris, France
| | - Karen Olsson-Francis
- Faculty of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics, The Open University, Milton Keynes, United Kingdom
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Bishop JL, Fairén AG, Michalski JR, Gago-Duport L, Baker LL, Velbel MA, Gross C, Rampe EB. Surface clay formation during short-term warmer and wetter conditions on a largely cold ancient Mars. NATURE ASTRONOMY 2018; 2:260-213. [PMID: 32042926 PMCID: PMC7008931 DOI: 10.1038/s41550-017-0377-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/19/2017] [Accepted: 12/27/2017] [Indexed: 05/28/2023]
Abstract
The ancient rock record for Mars has long been at odds with climate modelling. The presence of valley networks, dendritic channels and deltas on ancient terrains points towards running water and fluvial erosion on early Mars1, but climate modelling indicates that long-term warm conditions were not sustainable2. Widespread phyllosilicates and other aqueous minerals on the Martian surface3-6 provide additional evidence that an early wet Martian climate resulted in surface weathering. Some of these phyllosilicates formed in subsurface crustal environments5, with no association with the Martian climate, while other phyllosilicate-rich outcrops exhibit layered morphologies and broad stratigraphies7 consistent with surface formation. Here, we develop a new geochemical model for early Mars to explain the formation of these clay-bearing rocks in warm and wet surface locations. We propose that sporadic, short-term warm and wet environments during a generally cold early Mars enabled phyllosilicate formation without requiring long-term warm and wet conditions. We conclude that Mg-rich clay-bearing rocks with lateral variations in mixed Fe/Mg smectite, chlorite, talc, serpentine and zeolite occurrences formed in subsurface hydrothermal environments, whereas dioctahedral (Al/Fe3+-rich) smectite and widespread vertical horizonation of Fe/Mg smectites, clay assemblages and sulphates formed in variable aqueous environments on the surface of Mars. Our model for aluminosilicate formation on Mars is consistent with the observed geological features, diversity of aqueous mineralogies in ancient surface rocks and state-of-the-art palaeoclimate scenarios.
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Affiliation(s)
- Janice L. Bishop
- SETI Institute, Mountain View, CA, USA
- National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA, USA
| | - Alberto G. Fairén
- Centro de Astrobiología (Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas-Instituto Nacional de Técnica Aeroespacial), Madrid, Spain
- Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, USA
| | - Joseph R. Michalski
- Department of Earth Sciences & Laboratory for Space Research, University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China
| | | | | | - Michael A. Velbel
- Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, USA
- Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC, USA
| | | | - Elizabeth B. Rampe
- National Aeronautics and Space Administration-Johnson Space Center, Houston, TX, USA
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42
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Chojnacki M, Banks M, Urso A. Wind-Driven Erosion and Exposure Potential at Mars 2020 Rover Candidate-Landing Sites. JOURNAL OF GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH. PLANETS 2018; 123:468-488. [PMID: 29568719 PMCID: PMC5859260 DOI: 10.1002/2017je005460] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/31/2023]
Abstract
Aeolian processes have likely been the predominant geomorphic agent for most of Mars' history and have the potential to produce relatively young exposure ages for geologic units. Thus, identifying local evidence for aeolian erosion is highly relevant to the selection of landing sites for future missions, such as the Mars 2020 Rover mission that aims to explore astrobiologically relevant ancient environments. Here we investigate wind-driven activity at eight Mars 2020 candidate-landing sites to constrain erosion potential at these locations. To demonstrate our methods, we found that contemporary dune-derived abrasion rates were in agreement with rover-derived exhumation rates at Gale crater and could be employed elsewhere. The Holden crater candidate site was interpreted to have low contemporary erosion rates, based on the presence of a thick sand coverage of static ripples. Active ripples at the Eberswalde and southwest Melas sites may account for local erosion and the dearth of small craters. Moderate-flux regional dunes near Mawrth Vallis were deemed unrepresentative of the candidate site, which is interpreted to currently be experiencing low levels of erosion. The Nili Fossae site displayed the most unambiguous evidence for local sand transport and erosion, likely yielding relatively young exposure ages. The downselected Jezero crater and northeast Syrtis sites had high-flux neighboring dunes and exhibited substantial evidence for sediment pathways across their ellipses. Both sites had relatively high estimated abrasion rates, which would yield young exposure ages. The downselected Columbia Hills site lacked evidence for sand movement, and contemporary local erosion rates are estimated to be relatively low.
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Affiliation(s)
- Matthew Chojnacki
- Lunar and Planetary Laboratory, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, USA
| | - Maria Banks
- NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD, USA
| | - Anna Urso
- Lunar and Planetary Laboratory, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, USA
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Peretyazhko TS, Niles PB, Sutter B, Morris RV, Agresti DG, Le L, Ming DW. Smectite formation in the presence of sulfuric acid: Implications for acidic smectite formation on early Mars. GEOCHIMICA ET COSMOCHIMICA ACTA 2018; 220:248-260. [PMID: 32801388 PMCID: PMC7427815 DOI: 10.1016/j.gca.2017.10.004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/19/2023]
Abstract
The excess of orbital detection of smectite deposits compared to carbonate deposits on the martian surface presents an enigma because smectite and carbonate formations are both favored alteration products of basalt under neutral to alkaline conditions. We propose that Mars experienced acidic events caused by sulfuric acid (H2SO4) that permitted phyllosilicate, but inhibited carbonate, formation. To experimentally verify this hypothesis, we report the first synthesis of smectite from Mars-analogue glass-rich basalt simulant (66 wt% glass, 32 wt% olivine, 2 wt% chromite) in the presence of H2SO4 under hydrothermal conditions (~200 °C). Smectites were analyzed by X-ray diffraction, Mossbauer spectroscopy, visible and near-infrared reflectance spectroscopy and electron microprobe to characterize mineralogy and chemical composition. Solution chemistry was determined by Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry. Basalt simulant suspensions in 11-42 mM H2SO4 were acidic with pH ≤ 2 at the beginning of incubation and varied from acidic (pH 1.8) to mildly alkaline (pH 8.4) at the end of incubation. Alteration of glass phase during reaction of the basalt simulant with H2SO4 led to formation of the dioctahedral smectite at final pH ~3 and trioctahedral smectite saponite at final pH ~4 and higher. Anhydrite and hematite formed in the final pH range from 1.8 to 8.4 while natroalunite was detected at pH 1.8. Hematite was precipitated as a result of oxidative dissolution of olivine present in Adirondack basalt simulant. Formation of secondary phases, including smectite, resulted in release of variable amounts of Si, Mg, Na and Ca while solubilization of Al and Fe was low. Comparison of mineralogical and solution chemistry data indicated that the type of smectite (i.e., dioctahedral vs trioctahedral) was likely controlled by Mg leaching from altering basalt and substantial Mg loss created favorable conditions for formation of dioctahedral smectite. We present a model for global-scale smectite formation on Mars via acid-sulfate conditions created by the volcanic outgassing of SO2 in the Noachian and early Hesperian.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - P B Niles
- NASA Johnson Space Center, Houston, TX 77058
| | - B Sutter
- Jacobs, NASA Johnson Space Center, Houston, TX 77058
| | - R V Morris
- NASA Johnson Space Center, Houston, TX 77058
| | - D G Agresti
- University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL 35294
| | - L Le
- Jacobs, NASA Johnson Space Center, Houston, TX 77058
| | - D W Ming
- NASA Johnson Space Center, Houston, TX 77058
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Oehler DZ, Etiope G. Methane Seepage on Mars: Where to Look and Why. ASTROBIOLOGY 2017; 17:1233-1264. [PMID: 28771029 PMCID: PMC5730060 DOI: 10.1089/ast.2017.1657] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/01/2017] [Accepted: 05/14/2017] [Indexed: 05/09/2023]
Abstract
Methane on Mars is a topic of special interest because of its potential association with microbial life. The variable detections of methane by the Curiosity rover, orbiters, and terrestrial telescopes, coupled with methane's short lifetime in the martian atmosphere, may imply an active gas source in the planet's subsurface, with migration and surface emission processes similar to those known on Earth as "gas seepage." Here, we review the variety of subsurface processes that could result in methane seepage on Mars. Such methane could originate from abiotic chemical reactions, thermogenic alteration of abiotic or biotic organic matter, and ancient or extant microbial metabolism. These processes can occur over a wide range of temperatures, in both sedimentary and igneous rocks, and together they enhance the possibility that significant amounts of methane could have formed on early Mars. Methane seepage to the surface would occur preferentially along faults and fractures, through focused macro-seeps and/or diffuse microseepage exhalations. Our work highlights the types of features on Mars that could be associated with methane release, including mud-volcano-like mounds in Acidalia or Utopia; proposed ancient springs in Gusev Crater, Arabia Terra, and Valles Marineris; and rims of large impact craters. These could have been locations of past macro-seeps and may still emit methane today. Microseepage could occur through faults along the dichotomy or fractures such as those at Nili Fossae, Cerberus Fossae, the Argyre impact, and those produced in serpentinized rocks. Martian microseepage would be extremely difficult to detect remotely yet could constitute a significant gas source. We emphasize that the most definitive detection of methane seepage from different release candidates would be best provided by measurements performed in the ground or at the ground-atmosphere interface by landers or rovers and that the technology for such detection is currently available. Key Words: Mars-Methane-Seepage-Clathrate-Fischer-Tropsch-Serpentinization. Astrobiology 17, 1233-1264.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Giuseppe Etiope
- Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia, Sezione Roma 2, Roma, Italy, and Faculty of Environmental Science and Engineering, Babes-Bolyai University, Cluj-Napoca, Romania
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Chemtob SM, Nickerson RD, Morris RV, Agresti DG, Catalano JG. Oxidative alteration of ferrous smectites and implications for the redox evolution of early Mars. JOURNAL OF GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH. PLANETS 2017; 122:2469-2488. [PMID: 32802700 PMCID: PMC7427814 DOI: 10.1002/2017je005331] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/24/2023]
Abstract
Surface conditions on early Mars were likely anoxic, similar to early Earth, but the timing of the evolution to oxic conditions characteristic of contemporary Mars is unresolved. Ferrous trioctahedral smectites are the thermodynamically predicted products of anoxic basalt weathering, but orbital analyses of Noachian-aged terrains find primarily Fe3+-bearing clay minerals. Rover-based detection of Fe2+-bearing trioctahedral smectites at Gale Crater suggest that ferrous smectites are the unoxidized progenitors of orbitally-detected ferric smectites. To assess this pathway, we conducted ambient-temperature oxidative alteration experiments on four synthetic ferrous smectites having molar Fe/(Mg+Fe) from 1.00 to 0.33. Smectite suspension in air-saturated solutions produced incomplete oxidation (24-38% Fe3+/ΣFe). Additional smectite oxidation occurred upon re-exposure to air-saturated solutions after anoxic hydrothermal recrystallization, which accelerated cation and charge redistribution in the octahedral sheet. Oxidation was accompanied by contraction of the octahedral sheet (d(060) decreased from 1.53-1.56 Å to 1.52 Å), consistent with a shift towards dioctahedral structure. Ferrous smectite oxidation by aqueous hydrogen peroxide solutions resulted in nearly complete Fe2+ oxidation but also led to partial Fe3+ ejection from the structure, producing nanoparticulate hematite. Reflectance spectra of oxidized smectites were characterized by (Fe3+,Mg)2-OH bands at 2.28-2.30 μm, consistent with oxidative formation of dioctahedral nontronite. Accordingly, ferrous smectites are plausible precursors to observed ferric smectites on Mars, and their presence in late-Noachian sedimentary units suggests that anoxic conditions may have persisted on Mars beyond the Noachian.
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Affiliation(s)
- Steven M Chemtob
- Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Temple University, Philadelphia, PA 19122, U.S.A
- Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Washington University, St. Louis, MO 63130, U.S.A
| | - Ryan D Nickerson
- Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Washington University, St. Louis, MO 63130, U.S.A
| | | | - David G Agresti
- Department of Physics, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, U.S.A
| | - Jeffrey G Catalano
- Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Washington University, St. Louis, MO 63130, U.S.A
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Amador ES, Bandfield JL, Brazelton WJ, Kelley D. The Lost City Hydrothermal Field: A Spectroscopic and Astrobiological Analogue for Nili Fossae, Mars. ASTROBIOLOGY 2017; 17:1138-1160. [PMID: 28910143 DOI: 10.1089/ast.2016.1606] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/07/2023]
Abstract
Low-temperature serpentinization is a critical process with respect to Earth's habitability and the Solar System. Exothermic serpentinization reactions commonly produce hydrogen as a direct by-product and typically produce short-chained organic compounds indirectly. Here, we present the spectral and mineralogical variability in rocks from the serpentine-driven Lost City Hydrothermal Field on Earth and the olivine-rich region of Nili Fossae on Mars. Near- and thermal-infrared spectral measurements were made from a suite of Lost City rocks at wavelengths similar to those for instruments collecting measurements of the martian surface. Results from Lost City show a spectrally distinguishable suite of Mg-rich serpentine, Ca carbonates, talc, and amphibole minerals. Aggregated detections of low-grade metamorphic minerals in rocks from Nili Fossae were mapped and yielded a previously undetected serpentine exposure in the region. Direct comparison of the two spectral suites indicates similar mineralogy at both Lost City and in the Noachian (4-3.7 Ga) bedrock of Nili Fossae, Mars. Based on mapping of these spectral phases, the implied mineralogical suite appears to be extensive across the region. These results suggest that serpentinization was once an active process, indicating that water and energy sources were available, as well as a means for prebiotic chemistry during a time period when life was first emerging on Earth. Although the mineralogical assemblages identified on Mars are unlikely to be directly analogous to rocks that underlie the Lost City Hydrothermal Field, related geochemical processes (and associated sources of biologically accessible energy) were once present in the subsurface, making Nili Fossae a compelling candidate for a once-habitable environment on Mars. Key Words: Mars-Habitability-Serpentinization-Analogue. Astrobiology 17, 1138-1160.
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Affiliation(s)
- Elena S Amador
- 1 Department of Earth and Space Sciences, University of Washington , Seattle, Washington
| | | | | | - Deborah Kelley
- 4 School of Oceanography, University of Washington , Seattle, Washington
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Clay mineral formation under oxidized conditions and implications for paleoenvironments and organic preservation on Mars. Nat Commun 2017; 8:1230. [PMID: 29089493 PMCID: PMC5663933 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-017-01235-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/31/2015] [Accepted: 09/01/2017] [Indexed: 12/04/2022] Open
Abstract
Clay mineral-bearing locations have been targeted for martian exploration as potentially habitable environments and as possible repositories for the preservation of organic matter. Although organic matter has been detected at Gale Crater, Mars, its concentrations are lower than expected from meteoritic and indigenous igneous and hydrothermal reduced carbon. We conducted synthesis experiments motivated by the hypothesis that some clay mineral formation may have occurred under oxidized conditions conducive to the destruction of organics. Previous work has suggested that anoxic and/or reducing conditions are needed to synthesize the Fe-rich clay mineral nontronite at low temperatures. In contrast, our experiments demonstrated the rapid formation of Fe-rich clay minerals of variable crystallinity from aqueous Fe3+ with small amounts of aqueous Mg2+. Our results suggest that Fe-rich clay minerals such as nontronite can form rapidly under oxidized conditions, which could help explain low concentrations of organics within some smectite-containing rocks or sediments on Mars. In the Gale Crater on Mars, organic matter has been detected, but in much lower concentrations than expected. Here, the authors conduct clay mineral synthesis experiments which suggest that clay minerals may rapidly form under oxidized conditions and thus explain the low organic concentrations in Gale Crater.
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Abstract
Spectral remote sensing in the visible/near-infrared (VNIR) and mid-IR (MIR) regions has enabled detection and characterisation of multiple clays and clay minerals on Earth and in the Solar System. Remote sensing on Earth poses the greatest challenge due to atmospheric absorptions that interfere with detection of surface minerals. Still, a greater variety of clay minerals have been observed on Earth than other bodies due to extensive aqueous alteration on our planet. Clay minerals have arguably been mapped in more detail on the planet Mars because they are not masked by vegetation on that planet and the atmosphere is less of a hindrance. Fe/Mg-smectite is the most abundant clay mineral on the surface of Mars and is also common in meteorites and comets where clay minerals are detected.
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Affiliation(s)
- Janice L Bishop
- SETI Institute, Carl Sagan Center, 189 Bernardo Ave, Suite 200, Mountain View, CA 94043, USA
| | | | - John Carter
- Institut d'Astrophysique Spatiale, CNRS/Paris-Sud University, Orsay, France
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Hays LE, Graham HV, Des Marais DJ, Hausrath EM, Horgan B, McCollom TM, Parenteau MN, Potter-McIntyre SL, Williams AJ, Lynch KL. Biosignature Preservation and Detection in Mars Analog Environments. ASTROBIOLOGY 2017; 17:363-400. [PMID: 28177270 PMCID: PMC5478115 DOI: 10.1089/ast.2016.1627] [Citation(s) in RCA: 73] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/05/2023]
Abstract
This review of material relevant to the Conference on Biosignature Preservation and Detection in Mars Analog Environments summarizes the meeting materials and discussions and is further expanded upon by detailed references to the published literature. From this diverse source material, there is a detailed discussion on the habitability and biosignature preservation potential of five primary analog environments: hydrothermal spring systems, subaqueous environments, subaerial environments, subsurface environments, and iron-rich systems. Within the context of exploring past habitable environments on Mars, challenges common to all of these key environments are laid out, followed by a focused discussion for each environment regarding challenges to orbital and ground-based observations and sample selection. This leads into a short section on how these challenges could influence our strategies and priorities for the astrobiological exploration of Mars. Finally, a listing of urgent needs and future research highlights key elements such as development of instrumentation as well as continued exploration into how Mars may have evolved differently from Earth and what that might mean for biosignature preservation and detection. Key Words: Biosignature preservation-Biosignature detection-Mars analog environments-Conference report-Astrobiological exploration. Astrobiology 17, 363-400.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lindsay E. Hays
- Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California
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Potter-McIntyre SL, Williams J, Phillips-Lander C, O'Connell L. Taphonomy of Microbial Biosignatures in Spring Deposits: A Comparison of Modern, Quaternary, and Jurassic Examples. ASTROBIOLOGY 2017; 17:216-230. [PMID: 28323483 DOI: 10.1089/ast.2016.1495] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/22/2023]
Abstract
On Earth, microorganisms commonly enhance mineral precipitation and mediate mineralogical and chemical compositions of resulting deposits, particularly at spring systems. However, preservation of any type of microbial fossil or chemical or textural biosignature depends on the degree of alteration during diagenesis and factors such as exposure to diagenetic fluids. Little is known about the transformation of biosignatures during diagenesis over geologic time. Ten Mile Graben, Utah, USA, hosts a cold spring system that is an exceptional site for evaluation of diagenetic alteration of biosignatures because of the presence of modern springs with actively precipitating microbial mats and a series of progressively older tufa terraces (<400 ka) preserved in the area from the same spring system. A previously undescribed Jurassic laminated carbonate unit within the upper part of the Brushy Basin Member of the Morrison Formation is also exposed in Ten Mile Graben. This research characterizes the geology of these modern and Quaternary saline, Fe-undersaturated, circumneutral Ten Mile Graben cold springs and provides the first description in the literature of the Jurassic Brushy Basin Member of the Morrison Formation carbonate deposit. Taphonomy of microbial fossils is characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The data highlight two distinct methods of biosignature formation: (1) precipitation of minerals from an undersaturated solution owing to metabolic activity of the cells and (2) mineral precipitation on charged cell surfaces that produce distinctive microbial trace fossils. Although diagenesis can destroy or severely degrade biosignatures, particularly microbial fossils, some fossils and trace fossils are preserved because entombment by Ostwald ripening limits diagenetic alteration. Recognizing spring-fed, biogenic tufas is crucial for astrobiological research and the search for life on Mars. Key Words: Biosignatures-Taphonomy-Diagenesis-Carbonates-Hot springs. Astrobiology 17, 216-230.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Jason Williams
- 1 Geology Department, Southern Illinois University , Carbondale, Illinois
| | - Charity Phillips-Lander
- 2 Conoco Phillips School of Geology and Geophysics, University of Oklahoma , Norman, Oklahoma
| | - Laura O'Connell
- 1 Geology Department, Southern Illinois University , Carbondale, Illinois
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