A planet has just been confirmed as a promising site for the origins of life, resembling the early Earth, if not more promising.
A study recently published in Earth and Planetary Science Letters has created the first model of the evolution of Mars’ atmosphere, linking the high temperatures during Mars’ “hot infancy” to the formation of oceans and a primordial atmosphere.
Mars lies within the Goldilocks zone of the Solar System, yet it has long been known to be too cold and dry for life. Some indirect evidence suggests that in the past, this planet may not have been as inhospitable, but the unpredictable process of planetary evolution has drained its resources.
Mars’ habitable past, potentially even more livable than Earth, according to researchers from the SETI Institute – (Graphic based on actual Curiosity/NASA data)
In the new model developed by the SETI Institute (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence, primarily funded by NASA), the period during which Mars created its initial environment has been reconstructed using data collected by NASA’s Curiosity rover, which is still exploring the Red Planet, along with Martian meteorites that have fallen to Earth.
Accordingly, Mars’ primordial atmosphere must have been about 1,000 times thicker than it is today, consisting mainly of molecular hydrogen (H2) in the upper atmosphere and abundant water vapor in the lower layers.
“This discovery is significant because H2 is a potent greenhouse gas. A dense H2 atmosphere would create a strong greenhouse effect, allowing warm or hot oceans to be stable on Mars’ surface for millions of years, until H2 gradually escaped into space,” the authors stated in the publication.
This was determined through the analysis of the ratios of hydrogen isotopes in Martian meteorites as well as ancient clay samples, over 3 billion years old, collected by Curiosity.
The evidence supports a scenario of an early Red Planet with vast oceans, warm enough for life to emerge, protected by an “armor” of H2.
“This is the first model that naturally reconstructs this data, giving us confidence that the atmospheric evolution scenario we have described corresponds with primordial events on Mars,” said researcher Kaveh Pahlevan from the SETI Institute, as cited by SciTech Daily.
Unfortunately, H2 is easily lost to space, so after billions of years, this layer thinned out, causing water vapor to escape as well, turning the planet into a “dead desert”, cold and lifeless. However, it is clear that this planet was born to harbor life.
Evaluating the results from the model alongside other conditions favorable for life on this planet, the team from the SETI Institute concluded: Early Mars was a warmer version of modern Titan (Saturn’s moon) and at least one promising site for the origins of life similar to early Earth, if not more promising.”
