An inventory of potentially habitable environments on Mars: Geological and biological perspectives

Dohm, J. M.; Miyamoto, H.; Ori, G. G.; Fairén, Alberto González; Dávila, Alfonso F.; Komatsu, G.; Mahaney, William C.; Williams, J. P.; Joye, Samantha B.; Achille, G. Di; Oehler, Dorothy Z.; Marzo, G. A.; Schulze‐Makuch, Dirk; Acocella, Valerio; Glamoclija, M.; Pondrelli, M.; Boston, Penelope J.; Hart, Kris M.; Anderson, Robert C.; Baker, Victor R.; Fink, Wolfgang; Kelleher, Brian P.; Furfaro, Roberto; Gross, C.; Hare, T. M.; Frazer, Andrew R.; Ip, F.; Allen, Christopher C. R.; Kim, K. J.; Maruyama, Shigenori; McGuire, Patrick C.; Netoff, Dennis I.; Parnell, John; Wendt, L.; Wheelock, Shawn J.; Steele, A.; Hancock, R. G. V.; Havics, R. A.; Costa, Pedro; Krinsley, David H.

doi:10.1130/2011.2483(21)

Cited by 17 publications

(19 citation statements)

References 237 publications

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“…This shows that at that time, Mars may have not necessarily been a globally dry and desiccating environment as it is today. These results support the hypotheses that relatively persistent surface water activity could have extended beyond the Noachian/Hesperian boundary and thus that potentially habitable conditions could have also persisted [e.g., Dohm et al , ] at least locally on Mars during the Amazonian.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 86%

Hydrological and sedimentary analyses of well-preserved paleofluvial-paleolacustrine systems at Moa Valles, Mars

Salese

Achille

Neesemann

et al. 2016

J. Geophys. Res. Planets

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Moa Valles is a well‐preserved, likely Amazonian (younger than 2 Ga old), paleodrainage system that is nearly 300 km long and carved into ancient highland terrains west of Idaeus Fossae. The fluvial system apparently originated from fluidized ejecta blankets, and it consists of a series of dam breach paleolakes with associated fan‐shaped sedimentary deposits. The paleolakes are interconnected and drain eastward into Liberta crater, forming a complex and multilobate deltaic deposit exhibiting a well‐developed channelized distributary pattern with evidence of switching on the delta plain. A breach area, consisting of three spillover channels, is present in the eastern part of the crater rim. These channels connect the Liberta crater to the eastward portion of the valley system, continuing toward Moa Valles with a complex pattern of anabranching channels that is more than 180 km long. Based on hydrological calculations of infilling and spillover discharges of the Liberta crater lake, the formation of the whole fluvial system is compatible with short to medium (<1000 year) timescales, although the length and morphology of the observed fluvial‐lacustrine features suggest long‐term periods of activity based on terrestrial analogs. Water for the 300 km long fluvial system may have been primarily sourced by the melting of shallow ice due to the thermal anomaly produced by impact craters. The occurrence of relatively recent (likely Amazonian) hydrological activity, which could have been primarily supported by groundwater replenishment, supports the hypothesis that hydrological activity could have been possible after the Noachian‐Hesperian boundary, which is commonly considered as the onset epoch of the present cold‐dry climate.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 86%

Hydrological and sedimentary analyses of well-preserved paleofluvial-paleolacustrine systems at Moa Valles, Mars

Salese

Achille

Neesemann

et al. 2016

J. Geophys. Res. Planets

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“…The astrobiological relevance of El Tatio deposits and the hydrothermal sites in general also depends on their potential to host life (habitable extreme environment [73]) and their ability to preserve the remnants of life (biosignatures) over geologic time (e.g., [74]). These favorable conditions are enhanced by the well-established assumption that the chances of finding evidence of extant or extinct Martian life are significantly higher in the subsurface than in the surface (e.g., [75]), and hydrothermal systems are excellent sites for life underground as well as on the surface.…”

Section: Los Gé Iseres Del Tatiomentioning

confidence: 99%

How Do Modern Extreme Hydrothermal Environments Inform the Identification of Martian Habitability? The Case of the El Tatio Geyser Field

Barbieri

Cavalazzi

2014

Challenges

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Despite the success in knowledge gained by the Mars missions in the last two decades, the search for traces of life on Mars is still in progress. The reconstruction of (paleo-) environments on Mars have seen a dramatic increase, in particular with regard to the potentially habitable conditions, and it is now possible to recognize a significant role to subaerial hydrothermal processes. For this reason, and because the conditions of the primordial Earth-when these extreme environments had to be common-probably resembled Mars during its most suitable time to host life, research on terrestrial extreme hydrothermal habitats may assist in understanding how to recognize life on Mars. A number of geological and environmental reasons, and logistics opportunities, make the geothermal field of El Tatio, in the Chilean Andes an ideal location to study.

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“…On Mars, sulfur-enrichment in circulating fluids would mostly occur only if they directly took on dissolved volatiles from a degassing magmatic intrusion, but accumulation of dissolved silica would occur whenever hot fluids circulated through the planet's dominantly basaltic crust [Walter and Des Marais, 1993]. Co-located volcanism and subsurface fluid flow indicate a high potential for a hydrothermal system, as frequently noted for Mars [Dohm et al, 2011]. However, at both of the identified Type II ridge sites, there is evidence for volcanic activity: the putative volcanic deposits in S Hydapsis crater are discussed above, and in the other crater, lobate dark-toned deposits with a purple DCS875 tone occur adjacent to fracture-margin ridges ( Figure S4).…”

Section: Potential Ridge Formation Mechanismsmentioning

confidence: 85%

“…We produced geomorphic maps of these craters, used their morphometry to assess postformation degradation and infilling, and created CTX digital elevation models where possible to investigate their finer-scale topography [Moratto et al, 2010]. We assessed the age and modification history of units of interest using standard crater counting techniques [Hartmann and Neukum, 2001;Ivanov, 2001;Kneissl et al, 2011] and investigated spectral variation using Thermal Emission Imaging System decorrelation stretch images (DCS875) [Christensen et al, 2004]. Text S1 in the supporting information provides full details of our methods.…”

Section: Candidate Site Selectionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Large‐scale fluid‐deposited mineralization in Margaritifer Terra, Mars

Thomas

Potter-McIntyre

Hynek

2017

Geophysical Research Letters

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Mineral deposits precipitated from subsurface‐sourced fluids are a key astrobiological detection target on Mars, due to the long‐term viability of the subsurface as a habitat for life and the ability of precipitated minerals to preserve biosignatures. We report morphological and stratigraphic evidence for ridges along fractures in impact crater floors in Margaritifer Terra. Parallels with terrestrial analog environments and the regional context indicate that two observed ridge types are best explained by groundwater‐emplaced cementation in the shallow subsurface and higher‐temperature hydrothermal deposition at the surface, respectively. Both mechanisms have considerable astrobiological significance. Finally, we propose that morphologically similar ridges previously documented at the Mars 2020 landing site in NE Syrtis Major may have formed by similar mechanisms.

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An inventory of potentially habitable environments on Mars: Geological and biological perspectives

Cited by 17 publications

References 237 publications

Hydrological and sedimentary analyses of well-preserved paleofluvial-paleolacustrine systems at Moa Valles, Mars

Hydrological and sedimentary analyses of well-preserved paleofluvial-paleolacustrine systems at Moa Valles, Mars

How Do Modern Extreme Hydrothermal Environments Inform the Identification of Martian Habitability? The Case of the El Tatio Geyser Field

Large‐scale fluid‐deposited mineralization in Margaritifer Terra, Mars

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