[meteorite-list] Martian Meteorite Yields More Evidence of the Possibility of Life On Mars (Nakhla Meteorite)

[Ron Baalke]

http://www.manchester.ac.uk/discover/news/article/?id=12797

Martian meteorite yields more evidence of the possibility of life on Mars
The University of Manchester
15 Sep 2014

A tiny fragment of Martian meteorite 1.3 billion years old is helping 
to make the case for the possibility of life on Mars, say scientists.

The finding of a "cell-like" structure, which investigators now know once 
held water, came about as a result of collaboration between scientists 
in the UK and Greece.  Their findings are published in the latest edition 
of the journal Astrobiology.

While investigating the Martian meteorite, known as Nakhla, Dr Elias Chatzitheodoridis 
of the National Technical University of Athens found an unusual feature 
embedded deep within the rock.  In a bid to understand what it might be, 
he teamed up with long-time friend and collaborator Professor Ian Lyon 
at the University of Manchester.

Professor Lyon, based in Manchester's School of Earth, Atmospheric and 
Environmental Sciences, said: "In many ways it resembled a fossilised 
biological cell from Earth but it was intriguing because it was undoubtedly 
from Mars. Our research found that it probably wasn't a cell but that 
it did once hold water - water that had been heated, probably as a result 
of an asteroid impact."

These findings are significant because they add to increasing evidence 
that beneath the surface, Mars does provide all the conditions for life 
to have formed and evolved.  It also adds to a body of evidence suggesting 
that large asteroids hit Mars in the past and produce long-lasting hydrothermal 
fields that could sustain life on Mars, even in later epochs, if life 
ever emerged there.

As part of the research, the feature was imaged in unprecedented detail 
by Dr Sarah Haigh of The University of Manchester whose work usually involves 
high resolution imaging for next generation electronic devices ,which 
are made by stacking together single atomic layers of graphene and other 
materials with the aim of making faster, lighter and bendable mobile phones 
and tablets. A similar imaging approach was able to reveal the atomic 
layers of materials inside the meteorite.

Together their combined experimental approach has revealed new insights 
into the geological origins of this fascinating structure.

Professor Lyon said: "We have been able to show the setting is there to 
provide life. It's not too cold, it's not too harsh.  Life as we know 
it, in the form of bacteria, for example, could be there, although we 
haven't found it  yet.  It's about piecing together the case for life 
on Mars - it may have existed and in some form could exist still."

Now the team is using these and other state-of-the-art techniques to investigate 
new secondary materials in this meteorite and search for possible bio 
signatures which provide scientific evidence of life, past or present. 
 Professor Lyon concluded: "Before we return samples from Mars, we must 
examine them further, but in more delicate ways.  We must carefully search 
for further evidence."

Notes for editors

The scientists' findings A Conspicuous Clay Ovoid in Nakhla: Evidence 
for Subsurface Hydrothermal Alteration on Mars with Implications for Astrobiology 
Elias Chatzitheodoridis, Sarah Haigh, and Ian Lyon are published in Astrobiology, 
Vol. 14, No. 8 

The work was supported by the Science and Technology Facilities Council.

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