| "Why do we have such a longstanding fascination with Mars? Very simply put, it's about life. The search for life elsewhere in our Solar System has been a major driver for exploring Mars, pretty much since we began seriously looking at that planet."1 The major objective of this work is to describe signs of possible life, that is biosignatures, in rocks from Mars if indeed they are present. Biosignatures are specific identifiable properties that result from living things; they may be implanted in the environment and may persist even if the living thing is no longer present. Over 100 mineral biosignatures have been discussed in the literature; however, only one, magnetite, is addressed by this study. Magnetite is found in many rock types on earth and in meteorites. Previous studies of terrestrial magnetite have used few properties, such as size and chemical composition, to determine one of the modes of origins for magnetite (e.g., biogenic, inorganic). This study has established a rigorous set of six criteria for the identification of intracellularly precipitated biogenic magnetite. These criteria have been applied to a subpopulation of magnetites embedded within carbonates in Martian meteorite ALH84001. These magnetites are found to be chemically and physically indistinguishable from those produced by magnetotactic bacteria strain MV-1, hence, they were likely formed by biogenic processes on ancient Mars. These criteria may be also used to distinguish origins for magnetites from terrestrial samples with complex or unknown histories.;The presence of purported past life on early Mars suggests that, if life once began it may still exist today, possibly in oases in the Martian subsurface. Future manned missions should consider potential hazards of an extant biological environment(s) on Mars.;1 Quote attributed to Jack Farmer of Arizona State University in discussing NASA's program of Mars Exploration (see "Deciphering Mars: Follow the Water," Astrobiology Magazine Sept. 12, 2005)... |
