subsurface life tagged posts

Did Surface Life evolve on Mars? Newly published research casts increased doubt

Diverse mineralogy exhumed from the Martian subsurface: A false color image from the HiRISE instrument aboard NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter shows amazing diversity of rocks exhumed from the Martian subsurface a meteor impact in the Nili Fossae area. The image is 1 km across. This site and others like it contain rocks that were altered by fluids in the Martian crust billions of years ago, at the time when life first emerged on Earth. These rocks represent exploration targets that could teach us about the origin of life. Credit: NASA/JPL/University of Arizona

Diverse mineralogy exhumed from the Martian subsurface: A false color image from the HiRISE instrument aboard NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter shows amazing diversity of rocks exhumed from the Martian subsurface a meteor impact in the Nili Fossae area. The image is 1 km across. This site and others like it contain rocks that were altered by fluids in the Martian crust billions of years ago, at the time when life first emerged on Earth. These rocks represent exploration targets that could teach us about the origin of life. Credit: NASA/JPL/University of Arizona

However, possibilities for subsurface life may be more promising. Below the surface, hydrothermal systems on Mars may have provided the right environment for life on the Red Planet, researchers argue. For the last 2...

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