Mars Analogs Environment Habitability And Biodiversity

Martian surface contains diverse lithologies (from sedimentary rocks to mafic-ultramafic igneous rocks) and ground patterns. These rocks record the late-stage evolution on the Martian surface from a temperate environment with bodies of liquid water to the current cold and hyper-arid environment. The constraints on the key parameters and processes for water-rock interaction, sedimentation of materials, and geomorphological development can provide important insights into the environmental change and habitability on the Martian surface. However, due to the difficulty in accessing Martian samples and limited remote-sensing data available from the Martian surface, most of the mysteries on Mars remain unraveled. In this proposed research topic we will focus on geological settings on Earth that are similar to the conditions on Mars. These Mars analogs are employed to infer possible processes on Mars and their impact on habitability and the search for life. The Mars analogs on Earth span a variety of environments, such as the super-arid sedimentary plains (e.g., the Qaidam Basin in the north of the Tibetan Plateau, the Mojave Basin in the USA, and the Atacama Desert in South America), the subsurface fracture waters in Precambrian cratons (e.g., the Canadian Shield, the Fennoscandian Shield, and the Kaapvaal Craton), high salinity localities (e.g. Laguna de Tírez, salt mines, and deep-sea brines) as well as extremely cold and highly radiative environments (e.g., polar regions, thin atmosphere). These settings on Earth are more accessible for collecting high-quality mineralogical, geochemical, geochronological, and microbiological data by the state-of-the-art facilities. These data can provide a solid cornerstone for us to understand the cycles of water and other life-essential elements, and their impact on habitability and biodiversity in extreme environments on Earth as well as the limits of life and the detection of biosignatures. Such research can also provide vital insights on the search for life on other planets and moons.

Mars has been extensively photographed by cameras and compositionally detected by spectrometers onboard orbiters on a global scale, and explored in-situ by landers and rovers at both local and outcrop scales in different locations. The results have proved that the Martian surface is rich in Earth-like geomorphologies, and the study of terrestrial analogs to Mars has been listed as one of the highest priorities of Martian science. With increasing new discoveries by in-situ explorations, Mars exploration has begun to enter the era of focusing on detailed analyses at regional to outcrop levels, rather than global mapping. Analog studies are playing a crucial role in this transition, making this book, which introduces the methodology and provides cases for readers, essentially important.Dozens of sites on Earth have been listed as analog targets for comparative study with the geomorphology, geology, geochemistry, environment and habitability of Mars. However, due to the diversity of landforms and forming mechanisms, and the long history of Mars, no single analog site on Earth can be fully compared to Mars. Nonetheless, the Qaidam Basin has been listed as an unique Mars analog site for studying the red planet's geomorphology, geology, and environmental changes, particularly regarding the evolution of paleolakes on Mars. This kind of setting has always been listed as a top priority for the search of life on Mars.This book contains first-hand information and on-site images obtained by the work's contributing authors, and is an essential read for anyone interested in Martian geomorphology and its evolution processes and history.

"Few persons except astronomers fully realise that of all the planets of the Solar system the only one whose solid surface has been seen with certainty is Mars." In 1907, Alfred Russel Wallace wrote the short book "Is Mars Habitable?" in response to Professor Percival Lowell's book "Mars and its Canals." The latter seemed to invalidated the claims Wallace made in his 1902 book "Man's Place in the Universe," in which he came to the conclusion that Mars was not habitable. In order to write this new volume, he embarked on months of research, interviewed experts, and scrupulously studied the martian climate and atmospheric conditions. Wallace points out that there are no signs of water vapour in Mars’ atmosphere, and that Lowell’s analysis of its climate was seriously flawed in several other aspects, which he discusses in detail here. Alfred Russel Wallace (1823-1913) was British naturalist, biologist, anthropologist, geographer and explorer. He was the first researcher to seriously try to gauge the likelihood of life on other planets, which he discussed in his 1902 "Man's Place in the Universe."

This early work by Alfred Russel Wallace was originally published in 1907 and we are now republishing it with a brand new introductory biography. 'Is Mars Habitable?' is an essay on the possibilities of organic life surviving on the red planet. Alfred Russel Wallace was born on 8th January 1823 in the village of Llanbadoc, in Monmouthshire, Wales. Wallace was inspired by the travelling naturalists of the day and decided to begin his exploration career collecting specimens in the Amazon rainforest. He explored the Rio Negra for four years, making notes on the peoples and languages he encountered as well as the geography, flora, and fauna. While travelling, Wallace refined his thoughts about evolution and in 1858 he outlined his theory of natural selection in an article he sent to Charles Darwin. Wallace made a huge contribution to the natural sciences and he will continue to be remembered as one of the key figures in the development of evolutionary theory.

From Habitability to Life on Mars explores the current state of knowledge and questions on the past habitability of Mars and the role that rapid environmental changes may have played in the ability of prebiotic chemistry to transition to life. It investigates the role that such changes may have played in the preservation of biosignatures in the geological record and what this means for exploration strategies. Throughout the book, the authors show how the investigation of terrestrial analogs to early Martian habitats under various climates and environmental extremes provide critical clues to understand where, what and how to search for biosignatures on Mars. The authors present an introduction to the newest developments and state-of-the-art remote and in situ detection strategies and technologies that are being currently developed to support the upcoming ExoMars and Mars 2020 missions. They show how the current orbital and ground exploration is guiding the selection for future landing sites. Finally, the book concludes by discussing the critical question of the implications and ethics of finding life on Mars. Edited by the lead on a NASA project that searches for habitability and life on Mars leading to the Mars 2020 mission Presents the evidence, questions and answers we have today (including a summary of the current state of knowledge in advance of the ESA ExoMars and NASA Mars 2020 missions) Includes contributions from authors directly involved in past, current and upcoming Mars missions Provides key information as to how Mars rovers, such as ExoMars and Mars 2020, will address the search for life on Mars with their instrumentation

Is the Earth the right model and the only universal key to understand habitability, the origin and maintenance of life? Are we able to detect life elsewhere in the universe by the existing techniques and by the upcoming space missions? This book tries to give answers by focusing on environmental properties, which are playing a major role in influencing planetary surfaces or the interior of planets and satellites. The book gives insights into the nature of planets or satellites and their potential to harbor life. Different scientific disciplines are searching for the clues to classify planetary bodies as a habitable object and what kind of instruments and what kind of space exploration missions are necessary to detect life. Results from model calculations, field studies and from laboratory studies in planetary simulation facilities will help to elucidate if some of the planets and satellites in our solar system as well as in extra-solar systems are potentially habitable for life.