NASA has discovered the remains of a source on the red planet. An underwater environment also present on Earth and conducive to the development of life.
Here may be a new target for future Mars exploration missions. In the Eridania basin, located in the southern hemisphere of the red planet, researchers believe they have detected the remains of a hydrothermal source. A formation formerly located at the bottom of a sea from which hot water was rising from the seabed after having penetrated, deep down, on the border of two tectonic plates. This is revealed by a study based on data from NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) and recently published in Nature Communications. "An interesting discovery, because this environment, rich in minerals, is conducive to the appearance of life," says François Forget, director of research at the CNRS.
Nine times the amount of water in the Great Lakes
Researchers estimate that this water source existed as early as 3.7 billion years ago, when life appeared on Earth, and was then at the bottom of a sea of about 210 000 cubic kilometers, nine times the amount of Great Lakes water in the United States. If Mars is sterile and arid today, this element shows once again that the planet has gathered the necessary provisions for the presence of biological life. "Hydrothermal vents bring a lot of nutrients to the point that, on Earth, it is teeming with life," says François Forget. It is therefore an ideal place to search for traces of a life spent on Mars.
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Genesis index on Earth?
The richness of this discovery is also in the fact that it opens a "window on the origins of life on Earth," says NASA. Indeed, a theory places the dawn of life on Earth in these hydrothermal vents. Still, it is impossible to prove it since tectonics has erased all traces of this genesis of earth life: "The sedimentary rocks found on Earth are altered, metamorphosed and that prevents us from conducting the investigation, while Half of the surface of Mars has not changed for billions of years, says François Forget. The investigation is being conducted on Mars, because we can hope to study the stages between the non-living and the appearance of life: pre-biotic chemistry. It's the only place where you can see what makes life happen. Analogies are possible between Earth and Mars. A new laboratory is therefore opening up, making it possible to jointly study the potential habitation of Mars and the birth of life on Earth.