As we continue to explore how to get to Mars with Artemis II As a critical engineering and logistics bridge in the form of a long-term trial of interplanetary travel, science continues to search for traces of life on the red planet. And it is not easy: although 3.37 billion years ago an ocean covered half the planetMars is today a dry planet devastated by radiation.
The question is where to look for that life. The answer, as incredible as it may seem, may be more than 3,500 meters high in the north of Chile, in the Salar de Pajonales, a landscape that is also desolate where there is a range of extreme temperatures ranging between -23 °C and 26 °C, one of the highest solar radiation recorded on Earth, there is hardly any precipitation and winds that exceed 100 km/h. And yet, there is life. There a research team has discovered that plaster constitutes the perfect refuge for life. Spoiler: Gypsum is a common mineral both on Earth like on mars.
The discovery. According to this research, gypsum is not only a sedimentary rock, but also a biological repository. Thus, this mineral is capable of harboring both current life in the form of microorganisms that live within the crystals and preserving molecular fossils and microscopic structures. A kind of time capsule that protects organic material from degradation for millions of years.
Why is it important. The consequence of this finding in space research is direct: if gypsum is a “magnet” for biological preservation in hyperaridity conditions, the scientific community knows that the abundant sulfate deposits on Mars (such as Gale crater) are a magnificent place to continue searching for traces of extraterrestrial life. If there was life on Mars, gypsum is a likely place to house its traces.
Context. The Salar de Pajonales seems like a place from another planet: it is in high mountains where ultraviolet radiation is high, there is extreme aridity and thermal fluctuations reminiscent of the conditions on Mars from billions of years ago, when the red planet began to dry out. In this scenario, life has learned to hide from the unfriendly surface in a lifestyle endolithic to survive. Thus, the mineral functions as a solar shield and moisture reserve.
How have they done it. To read what the rocks contain, the Tebes-Cayo team has applied a kind of high-precision molecular and mineral archaeology:
- With habitability and climate analysis with a meteorological station that recorded data every 20 minutes for 40 years monitoring water activity.
- Using x-rays, petrography and microfluorescence to create thin sections to distinguish minerals and their distribution without destroying the sample.
- With microscope, isotopes and DNA sequencing to identify the microorganisms, the trapped corpses and to confirm that the carbon found has a biological and not a geological origin.
Yesyes, but. We already know that gypsum is the ideal candidate to search for life on Mars, but that is based on a hypothetical premise: that it ever existed. On the other hand, and although the Salar de Pajonales is reminiscent of the Red Planet, the conditions on Mars are even more extreme than in Chile (there is almost no atmosphere and it is even colder), which may have affected the preservation in a different way. And then there is the practical application: it is one thing to detect these biosignatures in the high mountains of Chile and another to use a robot thousands of kilometers away for the same purpose.
Cover | Luiza Braun and BoliviaIntelligent
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