Organic matter preserved in 3-billion-year-old mudstones at Gale crater, Mars
Open accessAbstract
Measuring martian organics and methane: The Curiosity rover has been sampling on Mars for the past 5 years (see the Perspective by ten Kate). Eigenbrode et al. used two instruments in the SAM (Sample Analysis at Mars) suite to catch traces of complex organics preserved in 3-billion-year-old sediments. Heating the sediments released an array of organics and volatiles reminiscent of organic-rich sedimentary rock found on Earth. Most methane on Earth is produced by biological sources, but numerous abiotic processes have been proposed to explain martian methane. Webster et al. report atmospheric measurements of methane covering 3 martian years and found that the background level varies with the local seasons. The seasonal variation provides an important clue for determining the origin of martian methane. Science , this issue p. 1096 , p. 1093 ; see also p. 1068
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There is some evidence of a biofilm in Lunar and Martian soils.
“although there is some evidence of a biofilm (Thomas-Keprta et al., 2014;Eigenbrode et al., 2018).”
From The Potential for Lunar and Martian Regolith Simulants to Sustain Plant Growth: A Multidisciplinary Overview (2022) · cites this paper as Eigenbrode et al., 2018
The main text (p. 9) says the detected organic matter has no clearly identified source: biological, geological, and meteoritic origins are all possible. It does not present the material as evidence of a biofilm, and it reports no findings about lunar soil. (LLM, conf=0.78)
Checked by a reasoning model — may be wrong.
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredVery low amounts of Mars organic matter were detected by the current survey from landers and rovers.
“As for the presence of Mars organic matter, very low amounts were detected by the current survey from landers and rovers [33].”
From Mars Regolith Simulant Ameliorated by Compost as in situ Cultivation Substrate Improves Lettuce Growth and Nutritional Aspects (2020) · cites this paper as [33]
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Cites
A Habitable Fluvio-Lacustrine Environment at Yellowknife Bay, Gale Crater, Mars
Grotzinger, J. P., Sumner, D. Y., Kah, L. C., Stack, K., Gupta, S., Edgar, L., Rubin, D., Lewis, K., Schieber, J., Mangold, N., et al. (2014) · Science · doi:10.1126/science.1242777 · Cited by 901 · see citing works
Self-citationMars' surface radiation environment measured with the Mars Science Laboratory's Curiosity rover
Hassler, D. M., Zeitlin, C., Wimmer-Schweingruber, R. F., Ehresmann, B., Rafkin, S., Eigenbrode, J. L., Brinza, D. E., Weigle, G., Böttcher, S., Böhm, E., et al. (2014) · Science · doi:10.1126/science.1244797 · Cited by 690 · see citing works
Self-citationReanalysis of the Viking results suggests perchlorate and organics at midlatitudes on Mars
Navarro‐González, R., Vargas, E., de la Rosa, J., Raga, A. C., & McKay, C. P. (2010) · Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets · doi:10.1029/2010je003599 · Cited by 384 · see citing works
Self-citationStern, J. C., Sutter, B., Freissinet, C., Navarro-González, R., McKay, C. P., Archer, P. D., Buch, A., Brunner, A. E., Coll, P., Eigenbrode, J. L., et al. (2015) · Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences · doi:10.1073/pnas.1420932112 · Cited by 225 · see citing works
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- Authors
- Eigenbrode, J. L., Summons, R. E., Steele, A., Freissinet, C., Millan, M., Navarro-González, R., Sutter, B., McAdam, A. C., Franz, H. B., Glavin, D. P., Archer, P. D., Mahaffy, P. R., Conrad, P. G., Hurowitz, J. A., Grotzinger, J. P., Gupta, S., Ming, D. W., Sumner, D. Y., Szopa, C., Malespin, C., Buch, A., & Coll, P.
- Affiliations
- Goddard Space Flight Center (US)
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology (US)
- Carnegie Institution for Science (US)
- Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (FR)
- Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (MX)
- National Aeronautics and Space Administration (US)
- Jacobs Technology, Houston, TX 77058, USA.
- Stony Brook University (US)
- California Institute of Technology (US)
- Imperial College London (GB)
- University of California, Davis (US)
- Supélec (FR)
- Corresponding author
- Eigenbrode, Jennifer L.
- ORCID
- Eigenbrode, Jennifer L.
- Summons, Roger E.
- Steele, Andrew
- Freissinet, Caroline
- Millan, Maëva
- Navarro-González, Rafael
- Sutter, Brad
- McAdam, Amy C.
- Franz, Heather B.
- Glavin, Daniel P.
- Archer, Paul D.
- Mahaffy, Paul R.
- Conrad, Pamela G.
- Hurowitz, Joel A.
- Grotzinger, John P.
- Gupta, Sanjeev
- Ming, Doug W.
- Sumner, Dawn Y.
- Szopa, Cyril
- Malespin, Charles
- Buch, Arnaud
- Coll, Patrice
- Venue
- Science
- Published
- 2018-06-08
- Volume
- 360
- Issue
- 6393
- Pages
- 1096-1101
- ISSN
- 0036-8075 (ISSN-L)
- 1095-9203
- OpenAlex
- W2805049645
- Cited by
- 558
- References
- 4
- Citations by year
- 2026: 59 · 2025: 55 · 2024: 56 · 2023: 54 · 2022: 67 · 2021: 73 · 2020: 98 · 2019: 68 · 2018: 28
- FWCI
- 35.92
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- hybrid
- doi.org
- Licence
- cc-by-nc-nd
- Locations
- Science (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- HAL (submittedVersion, other-oa)
- CaltechAUTHORS (California Institute of Technology) (submittedVersion)
- Spiral (Imperial College London) (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- National Aeronautics and Space Administration
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Physics and Astronomy › Astronomy and Astrophysics › Planetary Science and Exploration
- Physical Sciences › Physics and Astronomy › Astronomy and Astrophysics › Astro and Planetary Science
- Physical Sciences › Earth and Planetary Sciences › Paleontology › Paleontology and Stratigraphy of Fossils
- Keywords
- organic matter preservation, Gale Crater, Murray Formation, lacustrine mudstone, thiophene, sulfidation, organic carbon, biosignatures, pyrolysis products, Curiosity rover
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