[meteorite-list] Martian Find Raises Chances of Life

From: Dave Freeman mjwy <dfreeman_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Wed, 06 Dec 2006 10:21:49 -0700
Message-ID: <4576FC2D.2000907_at_fascination.com>

Dear Ron, Other scientists with paleobotanical background, Dirk;

What are the chances of stromatolite fossils actually being found on
Mars? I am turning blue from holding my breath.
Anyone care to venture any odds of a rock with laminations being found?
Banded Iron Formation or Prokaryotae?
Best,
Dave Freeman
Dealing in Archean Earth stromatolites
eBay ID mjwy
STROMATOLITE-GUIDE-or-finding-the-Rodney-Dangerfield_W0QQugidZ10000000002432833




Ron Baalke wrote:

>http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=1165406828171&call_pageid=968332188492
>
>Martian find raises chances of life
>ALICIA CHANG
>ASSOCIATED PRESS
>December 6, 2006
>
>LOS ANGELES - A provocative new study of photographs taken from orbit
>suggests that liquid water flowed on the surface of Mars as recently as
>several years ago, raising the possibility that the Red Planet could
>harbour an environment favourable to life.
>
>The crisp images taken by the Mars Global Surveyor do not directly show
>water. Rather, they show apparently recent changes in surface features
>that provide the strongest evidence yet that water even now sometimes
>flows on the dusty, frigid world. Water and a stable heat source are
>considered keys for life to emerge.
>
>Until now, the question of liquid water has focused on ancient Mars, and
>on the Martian north pole, where water ice has been detected. Scientists
>have long noted Martian features that appear to have been scoured by
>water or look like shorelines, and have tried to prove that the Red
>Planet had liquid water eons ago.
>
>"This underscores the importance of searching for life on Mars, either
>present or past," said Bruce Jakosky, an astrobiologist at the
>University of Colorado at Boulder, who had no role in the study. "It's
>one more reason to think that life could be there.''
>
>The new findings were published Wednesday in the journal Science and
>NASA scheduled a news conference for Wednesday afternoon to announce the
>results.
>
>Oded Aharonson, an assistant professor of planetary science at the
>California Institute of Technology, said that while the interpretation
>of recent water activity on Mars was "compelling," it's just one
>possible explanation. Aharonson said further study is needed to
>determine whether the deposit could have been left there by the flow of
>dust rather than water.
>
>The latest research emerged when the Global Surveyor spotted gullies and
>trenches that scientists believed were geologically young and carved by
>fast-moving water coursing down cliffs and steep crater walls.
>
>Scientists at the San Diego-based Malin Space Science Systems, who
>operate a camera aboard the spacecraft, decided to retake photos of
>thousands of gullies in search of evidence of recent water activity.
>
>Two gullies that were originally photographed in 1999 and 2001 and
>re-imaged in 2004 and 2005 showed changes consistent with water flowing
>down the crater walls, according to the study.
>
>In both cases, scientists found bright, light-colored deposits in the
>gullies that weren't present in the original photos. They concluded the
>deposits - possibly mud, salt or frost - were left there when water
>recently cascaded through the channels.
>
>The Global Surveyor, managed by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory,
>abruptly lost radio contact with Earth last month. Attempts to locate
>the spacecraft, which has mapped Mars since 1996, have failed and
>scientists fear it is unusable.
>
>NASA's durable Mars rovers have sent scientists strong evidence that the
>planet once had liquid water at or near the surface, based on
>observations of alterations in ancient rocks.
>
>"We're now realizing Mars is more active than we previously thought and
>that the mid-latitude section seems to be where all the action is," said
>Arizona State University scientist Phil Christensen, who was not part of
>the current research.
>
>Mars formed more than 4.5 billion years ago and scientists generally
>believe it went through an early wet and warm era that ended after 1.5
>billion to 2.5 billion years, leaving the planet extremely dry and cold.
>
>Water can't remain a liquid for long because of subzero surface
>temperatures and low atmospheric pressure that would turn water into ice
>or gas.
>
>But some studies have pointed to the possibility of liquid water flowing
>briefly on the surface through a possible underground water source that
>periodically shoots up like an aquifer.
>
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>
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Received on Wed 06 Dec 2006 12:21:49 PM PST