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The search for organic substances and inorganic volatile compounds in the surface of Mars
Abstract
A total of four Martian samples, one surface and one subsurface sample at each of the two Viking landing sites, Chryse Planitia and Utopia Planitia, have been analyzed for organic compounds by a gas chromatograph-mass spectrometer. In none of these experiments could organic material of Martian origin be detected at detection limits generally of the order of parts per billion and for a few substances closer to parts per million. The evolution of water and carbon dioxide, but not of other inorganic gases, was observed upon heating the sample to temperatures of up to 500°C. The absence of organic compounds seems to preclude their production on the planet at rates that exceed the rate of their destruction. It also makes it unlikely that living systems that behave in a manner similar to terrestrial biota exist, at least at the two Viking landing sites.
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Citations
Cited by
Rothschild, L. J., & Mancinelli, R. L. (2001) · Nature · doi:10.1038/35059215 · Cited by 2,245
Distribution of Hydrogen in the Near Surface of Mars: Evidence for Subsurface Ice Deposits
Boynton, W. V., Feldman, W. C., Squyres, S. W., Prettyman, T. H., Brückner, J., Evans, L. G., Reedy, R. C., Starr, R., Arnold, J. R., Drake, D. M., et al. (2002) · Science · doi:10.1126/science.1073722 · Cited by 934
Global distribution of near-surface hydrogen on Mars
Feldman, W. C., Prettyman, T. H., Maurice, S., Plaut, J. J., Bish, D. L., Vaniman, D. T., Mellon, M. T., Metzger, A. E., Squyres, S. W., Karunatillake, S., et al. (2004) · Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets · doi:10.1029/2003je002160 · Cited by 555
Global Distribution of Neutrons from Mars: Results from Mars Odyssey
Feldman, W. C., Boynton, W. V., Tokar, R. L., Prettyman, T. H., Gasnault, O., Squyres, S. W., Elphic, R. C., Lawrence, D. J., Lawson, S. L., Maurice, S., et al. (2002) · Science · doi:10.1126/science.1073541 · Cited by 544
Detection of methane in the martian atmosphere: evidence for life?
Krasnopolsky, V. A., Maillard, J. P., & Owen, T. C. (2004) · Icarus · doi:10.1016/j.icarus.2004.07.004 · Cited by 544
Metadata
- Authors
- Biemann, K., Oro, J., Toulmin, P., Orgel, L. E., Nier, A. O., Anderson, D. M., Simmonds, P. G., Flory, D., Diaz, A. V., Rushneck, D. R., Biller, J. E., & Lafleur, A. L.
- Venue
- Journal of Geophysical Research
- Publisher
- American Geophysical Union (AGU)
- Published
- 1977-09-30
- Volume
- 82
- Issue
- 28
- Pages
- 4641-4658
- ISSN
- 0148-0227 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W2131107714
- Cited by
- 607
- References
- 0
- FWCI
- 25.78
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
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- CoChat. (2026). Citation check: The search for organic substances and inorganic volatile compounds in the surface of Mars. https://app.cochat.ai/papers/10.1029/js082i028p04641
- The paper
- Biemann, K., Oro, J., Toulmin, P., Orgel, L. E., Nier, A. O., Anderson, D. M., Simmonds, P. G., Flory, D., Diaz, A. V., Rushneck, D. R., Biller, J. E., & Lafleur, A. L. (1977). The search for organic substances and inorganic volatile compounds in the surface of Mars. Journal of Geophysical Research. https://doi.org/10.1029/js082i028p04641
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