NASA Logo

NTRS

NTRS - NASA Technical Reports Server

Collections About News Help Login
Back to Results
Microbial trace fossils in Antarctica and the search for evidence of early life on MarsIt is possible to hypothesize that, if microbial life evolved on early Mars, fossil remnants of these organisms may be preserved on the surface. However, the cooling and drying of Mars probably resembled a cold desert and such an environment is not suitable for the process of fossilization. The frigid Ross Desert of Antarctica is probably the closest terrestrial analog to conditions that may have prevailed on the surface of the cooling and drying Mars. In this desert, cryptoendolithic microbial communities live in the airspaces of porous rocks, the last habitable niche in a hostile outside environment. The organisms produce characteristic chemical and physical changes in the rock substrate. Environmental changes (deterioration of conditions) may result in the death of the community. Although no cellular structures are fossilized, the conspicuous changes in the rock substrate are preserved as trace fossils. Likewise, microbial trace fossils (without cellular structures) may also be preserved on Mars: Discontinuities in structure or chemistry of the rock that are independent of physical or chemical gradients may be of biological origin. Ross Desert trace fossils can be used as a model for planning search strategies and for instrument design to find evidence of past Martian life.
Document ID
19890016976
Acquisition Source
Legacy CDMS
Document Type
Conference Paper
Authors
Friedmann, E. Imre (Florida State Univ. Tallahassee., United States)
Friedmann, Roseli O. (Florida Agricultural and Mechanical Univ. Tallahassee., United States)
Date Acquired
September 6, 2013
Publication Date
March 1, 1989
Publication Information
Publication: NASA, Ames Research Center, Exobiology and Future Mars Missions
Subject Category
Life Sciences (General)
Accession Number
89N26347
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Work of the US Gov. Public Use Permitted.

Related Records

There are no records associated with this record.
No Preview Available