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Astrobiological significance of minerals on Mars surface environment

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Abstract

Despite the large amount of geomorphological, geodynamic and geophysical data obtained from Mars missions, much is still unknown about Martian mineralogy and paragenetic assemblages, which is fundamental to an understanding of its entire geological history. Minerals are not only indicators of the physical–chemical settings of the different environments and their later changes, but also they could (and do) play a crucial astrobiological role related with the possibility of existence of extinct or extant Martian life. This paper aims: (1) to present a synoptic review of the main water-related Martian minerals (mainly jarosite and other sulfates) discovered up to the present time; (2) to emphasize their significance as environmental geomarkers, on the basis of their geological settings and mineral parageneses on earth (in particular in the context of some selected terrestrial analogues), and (3) to show that their differential UV shielding properties, against the hostile environmental conditions of the Martian surface, are of a great importance for the search for extraterrestrial life.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the Spanish Centro de Astrobiologia (CSIC/INTA), associated to the NASA Astrobiology Institute. Thanks to the Rover Environmental Monitoring Station (REMS) project. Maite Fernandez Sampedro, Maria Paz Martín Redondo and Dr Virginia Souza-Egipsy are acknowledged for their assistance with the analyses. Also thanks to three anonymous referees and Dr Alberto G. Fairén for their very helpful comments and remarks that have greatly improved the original manuscript. Special thanks to Dr David Hochberg for the revision of the English version.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centro de Astrobiología (CSIC-INTA), 28850, Torrejón de Ardoz, Madrid, Spain

    Jesus Martinez-Frias & Luis Vázquez

  2. Departamento de Química Física I, Facultad de Ciencias Químicas, Universidad Complutense, 28040, Madrid, Spain

    Gabriel Amaral

  3. Departamento de Matemática Aplicada, Facultad de Informática, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, 28040, Madrid, Spain

    Luis Vázquez

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  1. Jesus Martinez-Frias
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  2. Gabriel Amaral
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  3. Luis Vázquez
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Correspondence to Jesus Martinez-Frias.

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Martinez-Frias, J., Amaral, G. & Vázquez, L. Astrobiological significance of minerals on Mars surface environment. Rev Environ Sci Biotechnol 5, 219–231 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11157-006-0008-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11157-006-0008-x

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