[meteorite-list] Geologist Recreates 'Life On Mars' Evidence In Laboratory

From: Ron Baalke <baalke_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Thu Apr 22 10:02:29 2004
Message-ID: <200203151606.IAA08669_at_zagami.jpl.nasa.gov>

http://www.udayton.edu/news/nr/030502.html

OFFICE OF PUBLIC RELATIONS
University of Dayton

Contact:
Pam Huber, huber_at_picard.admin.udayton.edu, (937) 229-3241

March 5, 2002

UNIVERSITY OF DAYTON GEOLOGIST RECREATES 'LIFE ON MARS' EVIDENCE IN
HER LABORATORY

DAYTON, Ohio -- As NASA's Mars Odyssey spacecraft begins exploring
the planet, particularly looking for signs of water that once could
have nourished life, a University of Dayton geologist is disproving
what some pointed to as scientific evidence of past life on the Red
Planet.

A couple of years ago, the scientific community was rocked
by evidence that pointed to possible life on Mars. A
4.5-billion-year-old Martian meteorite showed what seemed to be
"a trace of biochemistry, chemical compounds from little critters
decaying. Not fossils, but decomposed remnants of life," said
Andrea Koziol, associate professor of geology at the University of
Dayton.

In experiments in her Wohlleben Hall basement laboratory, Koziol
has proved the "remnants" could have been created by natural Martian
processes -- lessening the credibility of the theory that Mars once
hosted life.

Koziol will present "A Non-Biological Origin for the Nanophase
Magnetite Grains in ALH001: Experimental Results" at 8:30 a.m. (CST)
Friday, March 15, at the 33rd annual Lunar and Planetary Science
Conference to be held March 11-15 at the South Shore Harbour Resort
and Conference Center in League City, Texas.

Scientists began examining the ALH001 meteorite -- about the size
of a large potato -- in 1995 and found carbonates the size of pencil
points. "On Mars and other planets, carbonates are pretty unusual,"
Koziol said. "Geologists see carbonates and think water, not common
in the universe. That original group saw possibilities of former
life, single-cell bacteria that left the carbonates and magnetite
grains behind when they decayed."

The theory matched the results of natural processes on Earth, where
decaying bacteria leave behind an intact crystal lattice of iron
and oxygen atoms from the magnetite. Some scientists argued that
only biology could arrange the atoms in such precise lines.

Koziol did it with heat.

"I had worked on similar carbonates before, and I thought a natural
process could have this result," she said. Her co-author for the
presentation, Adrian Brearley, had proposed the possibility, and
Koziol proved it.

She concocted synthetic rock that would mimic the real meteorite,
heated it to 400 degrees Fahrenheit for five minutes and then
immersed it in water to cool it down. Under heat and pressure,
the carbonate synthetic rock showed magnetite and carbon dioxide
"which just dribbles out of the rock and it's gone," Koziol said.
"We got the same size, same shape, same beveled edges and same
lined-up atoms" as appear in the meteorite, she said.

A naturally occurring collision on the ancient surface of Mars could
have provided the heat and pressure she recreated in her lab, Koziol
said.

She notes that many scientists attending the conference were
doubtful of the meteorite's evidence to begin with. "A lot of other
people out there argued against life on Mars from the beginning,"
she said. "This proves another method could be responsible."
Received on Fri 15 Mar 2002 11:06:44 AM PST