Biology
Scientific paper
Dec 2008
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2008agufm.p54a..04b&link_type=abstract
American Geophysical Union, Fall Meeting 2008, abstract #P54A-04
Biology
0424 Biosignatures And Proxies, 1055 Organic And Biogenic Geochemistry, 1060 Planetary Geochemistry (5405, 5410, 5704, 5709, 6005, 6008), 3672 Planetary Mineralogy And Petrology (5410), 5200 Planetary Sciences: Astrobiology
Scientific paper
Recent data returned from several Mars spacecraft show substantial evidence for mineral precipitation from bodies of liquid water. Evaporitic minerals such as gypsum, kieserite and poly-hydrated magnesium sulfates have been detected remotely by orbiting spacecraft [1], jarosite has been detected in situ by the MER Opportunity [2], and chlorides are highly abundant upon the surface of Mars [3], often in correlation with siliclastic deposits [4]. Terrestrial environments can provide analogs for these systems identified on the Martian surface, and in-depth characterization of the terrestrial systems can provide valuable insights into processes that may have occurred on Mars during the late Noachian/early Hesperian. This is especially true in ancient playa or evaporative basin environments where deep core sampling offers a method of observing the geochemical diagenetic changes with time within a constrained environment. Deep coring can provide samples upwards of 200 ka within hundreds of meters of core [5]. The analysis of these sections can allow for the determination of preservation of various biosignatures from extinct microbial communities as well as their in situ diagenetic rates. Amino acids are powerful biomarkers that can be used to estimate biomass [6] and determine ages of extinct microbial communities [7]. Preliminary data for a core sample collected from Saline Valley, CA, shows the effect of time on amino acid biosignatures. The core has been dated by U-series: 35 feet, 20.9 ± 1.1 ka; 127 feet, 61.1 ±2.8 ka; 204 feet, 73.9 ±4.8 ka; and 310 feet, 150.3 ± 7.8 ka. The abundance of amino acids is observed to decrease drastically over the first 20 ka and then stabilize, although the overall composition changes. Acidic amino acids along with alanine and valine are the dominant amino acids. The enantiomeric (D/L) ratios generally increase with age because of in situ racemization, although the enantiomeric ratios for alanine and glutamic acid show a decrease in the deepest core section. This may indicate some recent amino acid contribution to the pool of certain amino acids. Racemization rates can be calculated from the equation: ln[(1+D/L)/(1-D/L)] - ln [(1+D/L)/(1-D/L)]t=0 = 2ki(time) where ki is the first-order rate constant for the interconversion of the enantiomers. Using the D/L ratios at the top of the core for the t = 0 term gives kasp = 3.5x10exp-5 y-1 and 1.3x10exp-5 y-1 for the 18 and 70 ka samples, respectively. For valine, the values are kval = 5.6x10exp-6 y-1 and 7.3x10exp-6 y-1. Extrapolating these values to the average surface temperatures on Mars indicates that the chirality of these amino acids would be preserved for billions of years. Thus, closed basin lacustrine and dry desert valley regions with evaporite-rich deposits are suitable environments in the search for preserved biosignatures on Mars. References [1] Bibring, J.P., et al., Science 307, 1576 (2005) [2] Klinghofer, G., et al., Science 306, 1740 (2004) [3] Osterloo, M.M., et al., Science 319, 1651 (2008) [4] Squyres, S.W., et al., Nature 443, E1 (2006) [5] Lowenstein, T.K., et al., Geology 27, 3 (1999) [6] Glavin, D., et al., Earth Planet. Sci. Lett. 185,1 (2001) [7] Aubrey, A. D., et al., in preparation, Nature Geo. Sci.
Aubrey Andrew
Bada Jeffrey
Lowenstein T.
Timofeeff M.
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