Deep Trek: Science of Subsurface Habitability &amp; Life on Mars

Stamenković, V.; Lynch, Kennda; Boston, Penelope J.; Tarnas, J. D.; Edwards, C. D.; Sherwood-Lollar, Barbara; Atreya, S. K.; Templeton, A. S.; Freeman, A.; Fischer, Woodward W.; Spohn, Tilman; Webster, C. R.; Fairén, Alberto González; Mustard, John F.; Mischna, M. A.; Onstott, Tullis C.; Osburn, M. R.; Kieft, Thomas L.; Grimm, R. E.; Brinckerhoff, W. B.; Johnson, S. S.; Beegle, L. W.; Head, J. W.; Haldemann, A. F. C.; Cockell, Charles S.; Hernlund, J. W.; Wilcox, Brian; Paige, D. A.; Etiope, Giuseppe; Glavin, Daniel P.; Zorzano, María-Paz; Sekine, Yasuhito; Stalport, Fabien; Kirschvink, Joseph L.; Magnabosco, Cara; Orosei, R.; Grott, M.; Rummel, John D.; Kobayashi, Atsuko; Inagaki, Fumio; Bishop, J. L.; Chevrier, V. F.; Bell, M. S.; Orcutt, Beth N.; McIntosh, Jennifer C.; Miljković, K.; Breuer, D.; Usui, Tomohiro; Zacny, K.; Heggy, E.; Rivera-Valentín, E. G.; Barba, Nathan; Woolley, Ryan; Warr, Oliver; Malaska, M. J.; Blank, Jennifer; Ruffatto, Donald; Sapers, H. M.; Matthies, Larry; Ward, Lewis M.; Shkolyar, Svetlana; Schmelzbach, Cédric; Gabriel, T. S. J.; Parker, Ceth W.; Bolivar-Torres, Hermes Hernan; Pál, Bernadett; Schulze‐Makuch, Dirk; Celis, Jorge Andres Torres; Keresztúri, A.; Spry, J. Andy; Uckert, K.; Hesse, M. A.; Harris, Rachel; Plesa, Ana‐Catalina; Hu, Renyu; Agha–mohammadi, Ali–akbar; Wade, Brian D.; Chatterjee, Snehamoy; McGarey, Patrick; Graham, Heather; Suzuki, Shino; Schrenk, Matt; Sherrill, Kristopher; Howe, Scott; Manthena, Raju; Burgin, Mariko; Carpenter, Kalind; Giersch, Louis; Cormarkovic, Velibor; Smith, N. J. P.; McDonnell, Jeffrey J.; Michalski, J. R.; Jha, Devanshu; Cable, Morgan L.; Gloesener, Elodie; Paul, Varun; Gault, Stewart; Kedar, S.; Marteau, E.; Temel, Orkun; Krieger, Seth; Timoney, Ryan

doi:10.3847/25c2cfeb.dc18f731

Cited by 6 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 27 publications

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“…The demonstration of Darwin´s prediction of life in hard rock deep subsurface of Earth changed this pessimistic point of view (Zhang et al, 2005;Fry et al, 2009;Breuker et al, 2011;Momper et al, 2017a;Dutta et al, 2018;Cockell et al, 2021) especially after the detection of liquid water in Mars subsurface (Orsei et al, 2018). There are an important number of studies suggesting the existence of life in the deep subsurface of Mars extrapolating results obtained on planet Earth (Boston et al, 1992;Jakosky and Shock, 1998;Cockell and Barlow, 2002;Michalski et al, 2018;Tarnas et al, 2018;Onstott et al, 2019;Sueoka et al, 2019;Stamenkovic et al, 2021;Sauterey et al, 2022). The demonstration of microbial life supporting the operation of the most important biogeochemical cycles (C, H, N, S, and Fe) at different depths in the hard rock deep subsurface of the Iberian Pyrite Belt (Amils et al, 2023), considered a good geological and mineralogical terrestrial Mars analogue (Fernández-Remolar et al, 2005), allows us to assert that the possible existence of past or even extant life in the subsurface of Mars must be considered (Price et al, 2018;Stamenkovic et al, 2019;Koike et al, 2020;Purkamo et al, 2020;Tarnas et al, 2021) and searched in future exploration missions.…”

Section: Mars Dark Biosphere Explorationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Reviews in astronomy and space sciences

2024

Frontiers Research Topics

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Frontiers is more than just an open access publisher of scholarly articles: it is a pioneering approach to the world of academia, radically improving the way scholarly research is managed. The grand vision of Frontiers is a world where all people have an equal opportunity to seek, share and generate knowledge. Frontiers provides immediate and permanent online open access to all its publications, but this alone is not enough to realize our grand goals. Frontiers journal seriesThe Frontiers journal series is a multi-tier and interdisciplinary set of openaccess, online journals, promising a paradigm shift from the current review, selection and dissemination processes in academic publishing. All Frontiers journals are driven by researchers for researchers; therefore, they constitute a service to the scholarly community. At the same time, the Frontiers journal series operates on a revolutionary invention, the tiered publishing system, initially addressing specific communities of scholars, and gradually climbing up to broader public understanding, thus serving the interests of the lay society, too. Dedication to qualityEach Frontiers article is a landmark of the highest quality, thanks to genuinely collaborative interactions between authors and review editors, who include some of the world's best academicians. Research must be certified by peers before entering a stream of knowledge that may eventually reach the public -and shape society; therefore, Frontiers only applies the most rigorous and unbiased reviews. Frontiers revolutionizes research publishing by freely delivering the most outstanding research, evaluated with no bias from both the academic and social point of view. By applying the most advanced information technologies, Frontiers is catapulting scholarly publishing into a new generation. What are Frontiers Research Topics?Frontiers Research Topics are very popular trademarks of the Frontiers journals series: they are collections of at least ten articles, all centered on a particular subject. With their unique mix of varied contributions from Original Research to Review Articles, Frontiers Research Topics unify the most influential researchers, the latest key findings and historical advances in a hot research area.

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Section: Mars Dark Biosphere Explorationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Reviews in astronomy and space sciences

2024

Frontiers Research Topics

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“…Smith et al, 2021;Bierson et al, 2021). If there are any aquifers now, the depths to the groundwater table are thought to be 2-7 km in equatorial zone and 11-20 km at the poles (Stamenkovic et al, 2021). The contrast of the lighter density of such aquifers, if present, with respect to the heavier Martian basaltic crust makes the MaQuIs gravity mission ideal for detecting and exploring locations and size of possible present-day aquifers or the permeable structures that host them (porous sediments, fractured basalts).…”

Section: Liquid Water On Marsmentioning

confidence: 99%

MaQuIs - Mars Quantum Gravity Mission

Wörner

Root

Bouyer³

et al. 2023

Preprint

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The aim of this paper is to propose a Mars Quantum Gravity Mission (MaQuIs). The mission is targeted at improving the data on the gravitational field of Mars, enabling studies on planetary dynamics, seasonal changes, and subsurface water reservoirs. MaQuIs follows well known mission scenarios, currently deployed for Earth, and includes state-of-the-art quantum technologies to enhance the gained scientific signal.

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“…Diverse alteration products of water-rock reactions have been documented on Mars [26,[44][45][46][47][48][49][50][51][52][53]. Alteration minerals record environmental change and geochemical transitions, serving as proxy data for changing (geologically controlled) habitability [51,[54][55][56][57].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Mineral Indicators of Geologically Recent Past Habitability on Mars

Hart,

Cardace

2023

Life

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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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Deep Trek: Science of Subsurface Habitability & Life on Mars

Cited by 6 publications

References 27 publications

Reviews in astronomy and space sciences

Reviews in astronomy and space sciences

MaQuIs - Mars Quantum Gravity Mission

Mineral Indicators of Geologically Recent Past Habitability on Mars

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