A spot
on Mars called Nili Fossae that is rich in clay mineral-rich rocks could be a prime
spot to search for the fossilized remains of Martian life that may have existed
4 billion years ago, a new study suggests.
In
the study, scientists used an instrument on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter
to study clay-carbonate rocks on the Martian surface leftover from ancient red
planet era known as the Noachian period.
The
study does not offer actual evidence of past life; rather, it suggests a place
that might have been habitable.
"We
suggest that the associated hydrothermal activity would have provided
sufficient energy for biological
activity on early Mars at Nili Fossae," said study lead author Adrian
Brown, a scientist at the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence Institute
(SETI) in Mountain View, Calif., in a statement.
The
study's findings will be detailed in an upcoming issue of the journal Earth
and Planetary Science Letters.
Scientists
have not yet discovered proof of life on
Mars, or anywhere in the universe beyond Earth, though they are getting
closer to knowing where to look and how to recognize the signs of life if they
are present.
Brown
and his colleagues studied the hydrothermal formation of clay-carbonate rocks
in the Nili Fossae region on Mars. Their results suggest that these
carbonate-bearing rocks share similarities with traces of life and biological
markers on early Earth – particularly in a region of Western Australia.
The
Nili Fossae are valleys that have cut into the ancient crust of Mars, exposing
clay minerals.
The
Mars terrain in this region shares many traits with Australia's East Pilbara
region, which has preserved evidence of ancient Earth life beneath the soil,
they said.
"In
the article, we discuss the potential of the Archean volcanic of the East
Pilbara region of Western Australia as an analog for the Noachian Nili Fossae
on Mars," Brown said. "They indicate that biomarkers or evidence
of living organisms, if produced at Nili, could have been preserved, as
they have been in the North Pole Dome region of the Pilbara craton."
The
Nili Fossae region was seen as an ideal area to investigate the potential
habitability of early Mars. At one point, it was in the running as one of seven
candidate landing sites for NASA's upcoming Mars Science Laboratory rover mission.
Since
then, NASA scientists have whittled the candidate rover
landing targets to four locations on Mars known as Mawrth Vallis, Gale crater, Holden crater and Eberswalde
crater.
Brown
and his team of researchers used the Compact Reconnaissance Imaging
Spectrometer for Mars (CRISM) instrument onboard NASA's Mars Reconnaissance
Orbiter. Crism studied the ancient rocks with infrared light.
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