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Extraction of amino acids from soils close to the Mars Desert Research Station (MDRS), Utah

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  17 January 2011

Z. Martins ,
M.A. Sephton ,
B.H. Foing  and
P. Ehrenfreund
Z. Martins*
Affiliation:
Department of Earth Science and Engineering, Imperial College London, South Kensington Campus, London SW7 2AZ, UK
M.A. Sephton
Affiliation:
Department of Earth Science and Engineering, Imperial College London, South Kensington Campus, London SW7 2AZ, UK
B.H. Foing
Affiliation:
Science and Robotic Exploration Directorate, European Space Agency (ESA), ESTEC, Postbus 299, 2200 AG Noordwik, The Netherlands
P. Ehrenfreund
Affiliation:
Leiden Institute of Chemistry, Leiden University, Einsteinweg 55, 2333 CC Leiden, The Netherlands Space Policy Institute, George Washington University, Washington, DC, USA
*
e-mail: z.martins@imperial.ac.uk
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Abstract

Future space missions that aim to detect life should search for molecules that are vital to all living organisms. Although the Viking landers did not find any signs of organic molecules on Mars, signatures of past and/or present life may still exist in the Martian regolith. In this paper, we describe amino acid analyses performed in several Martian analogue soil samples collected close to the Mars Desert Research Station (MDRS), Utah, during the International Lunar Exploration Working Group (ILEWG) EuroGeoMars campaign in February 2009. The Utah desert around Hanksville is characterized as shale desert and is cold and arid with an average annual temperature of 12°C. It is subjected to wind erosion and was shaped by fluvial erosion. The data show large differences in the total amino acid abundances between all the collected soil samples, with values ranging from non-detectable to 100 000 parts per billion (ppb). These results are explained in the context of mineralogical differences (namely different clay content) among the soil samples. The data have implications for future life-detection missions and the target mineralogy that may host biological signatures.

Keywords

amino acidsMars analogue soilsMars Desert Research Station
Type
Research Article
Information
International Journal of Astrobiology , Volume 10 , Special Issue 3: Special issue: Astrobiology field research in Moon/Mars analogue environments , July 2011 , pp. 231 - 238
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2011

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