Researchers have analyzed the subsurface layer of Mars and found evidence of the presence of strange ancient organisms.
According to Sci-News, the research team led by Dr. Boris Sauterey from the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at the University of Arizona, USA, and the Biology Institute at École Normale Supérieure, Paris, France, has demonstrated that Mars had life 3.7 billion years ago.
Primitive green Mars once had life but self-destructed – (Photo: NASA).
Life on Mars did not roam the planet’s surface as we do; instead, it resided just beneath the surface layer.
“The porous regolith saturated with brine creates a physical space shielded from ultraviolet rays and cosmic radiation, while providing a solvent. Additionally, the underground temperature, density diffusion, and atmospheric reduction could have nurtured a type of microbe that ‘consumes’ hydrogen and carbon dioxide to generate energy, releasing methane as a byproduct,” Dr. Sauterey explained.
On Earth, the process of creating supernutrients from materials far removed from the food sources of today’s living organisms has been demonstrated, but this is the first time it has been carefully examined in the context of Mars.
A hydrogen-eating, methane-releasing life form was once thought to be an early form of life on Earth, although such organisms would be toxic to today’s terrestrial life forms, including humans, due to their excessive methane emissions.
By modeling the interaction between this ancient life form and the Martian environment, researchers noted that this scenario would require an additional factor to occur: the surface must not be completely covered in ice and must be capable of producing biomass similar to Earth’s primordial oceans. Previous studies, including research from NASA, have identified a high likelihood that Mars once fit this description.
Hellas Planitia, Isidis Planitia, and Jezero Crater may be the most suitable regions for that form of life, and these are also the areas where spacecraft should aim to excavate fossils of ancient organisms.
The ancient biomass of Mars and Earth 3.7 billion years ago may have been equivalent. However, this ancient ecosystem, when interacting with Martian conditions, would lead to a global cooling to minus 223 degrees Celsius, stifling the development of more advanced life forms.
This could have marked the end for other potential life forms, rendering Mars the dead planet it is today.
The study has just been published in the scientific journal Nature Astronomy.
