Biology
Scientific paper
Jan 1998
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=1998lpico.953...43w&link_type=abstract
The First International Conference on Mars Polar Science and Exploration, Proceedings of the Conference held at Camp Allen, TX.
Biology
Mars Surface, Oxygen, Polar Regions, Water, Extraterrestrial Life, Exobiology, Antarctic Regions, Mars (Planet), Mars Environment, Salinity, Iron, Activity (Biology), Water Vapor, Biogeochemistry
Scientific paper
The problem is initially to decide where, in the polar regions of Mars, "ecological niches" might exist in which life forms may currently be present. To find "C-based" life (similar to our own) in other parts of the solar system, one must find places where liquid water in some form might exist. To locate currently living C-based life forms, the liquid water must have existed continuously on a geological (as opposed to a biological) timescale. The energy source for these organisms would, in the absence of photosynthesis, have to be chemical. For example, one such energy source is the reaction of atmospheric oxygen with ferrous iron to produce ferric iron. The ferric iron would interact with rock minerals and be converted back to ferrous iron. This is the case with iron bacteria on the Earth today. The life forms would take part in the weathering of the rock and derive their energy from it.
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