Fluid Expulsion, Habitability, and the Search for Life on Mars
- Author
- Allen, Carlton C.
- Published
- March 19, 2012.
- Physical Description
- 1 electronic document
- Additional Creators
- Oehler, Dorothy Z.
Online Version
- hdl.handle.net , Connect to this object online.
- Restrictions on Access
- Unclassified, Unlimited, Publicly available.
Free-to-read Unrestricted online access - Summary
- Habitability assessments are critical for identifying settings in which potential biosignatures could exist in quantities large enough to be detected by rovers. Habitability depends on 1) the potential for long-lived liquid water, 2) conditions affording protection from surface processes destructive to organic biomolecules, and 3) a source of renewing nutrients and energy. Of these criteria, the latter is often overlooked. Here we present an analysis of a large "ghost" crater in northern Chryse Planitia [1] that appears to have satisfied each of these requirements, with several processes providing potential sources of nutrient/energy renewal [1-2]. This analysis can serve as a model for identifying other localities that could provide similarly favorable settings in which to seek evidence of life on Mars.
- Other Subject(s)
- Collection
- NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS) Collection.
- Note
- Document ID: 20120002640.
JSC-CN-25691.
43rd Lunar and Planetary Science Conference; 19-23 Mar. 2012; The Woodlands, TX; United States. - Terms of Use and Reproduction
- No Copyright.
View MARC record | catkey: 15980702