[meteorite-list] New Life On Mars Evidence 'Conclusive'

From: Ron Baalke <baalke_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Thu Apr 22 09:48:11 2004
Message-ID: <200110130025.RAA15029_at_zagami.jpl.nasa.gov>

>
> I'm curious. Why would this evidence first be presented in a "book" rather
> than in a scientific paper

The book was referring to a scientific paper from Precambrian Research.
The book hasn't been released yet, but should be out within the week.
Below is the abstract of the paper.

Ron Baalke
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Abstract

Life on Mars: Evaluation of the evidence within Martian meteorites
ALH84001, Nakhla, and Shergotty

by E.K. Gibson, et al.

Pecambrian Research 106 (2001) 15-34

Analyses both support and are in opposition to the hypothesis that the
Martian meteorite ALH84001 contains evidence for possible biogenic activity
on Mars. New observations in two additional Martian meteorites, Nakhla (1.3
Ga old) and Shergotty (300Ð165 Ma old) indicate possible biogenic features.
Features in the three Martian meteorites compare favorably with the accepted
criteria for terrestrial microfossils and evidence for early life on the Earth.
There is strong evidence for the presence of indigenous reduced carbon,
biogenic magnetite, and the low-temperature formation of carbonate globules.
The morphological similarities between terrestrial microfossils, biofilms,
and the features found in the three Martian meteorites are intriguing but
have not been conclusively proven. Every investigation must recognize the
possibility of terrestrial contamination of the meteorites, whether or not the
meteorites are Martian. The search for evidence of ancient life in Martian
meteorites has emphasized the difficulties confronting the scientific
community with the respect to the positive identification of evidence of
past biogenic activity.
Received on Fri 12 Oct 2001 08:25:07 PM PDT