Mars

Lakes are time capsules. On Earth, they are considered sentinels of climate change and may have played the same role on early Mars. Their basins capture the record of geological and environmental fluctuations over a wide range of temporal and spatial scales. Terrestrial lakes host a diversity of habitats where life’s adaptability can be pushed to the edge in often unstable environments. They preserve the evidence of ancient life as sedimentation rapidly entombs dead organisms and generates anoxic conditions favoring the formation of fossils.

The Haughton impact crater site on Devon Island, High Arctic, is one of the most Mars-like places on Earth. Since 1997, the Haughton-Mars Project (HMP) has been conducting science and exploration research at the site, and established the HMP Research Station, now the largest privately operated polar research station in the world. Geology and astrobiology investigations have led to the formulation of the “Mars, Always Cold, Sometimes Wet” Model. Dr.

Recent Mars missions have discovered fascinating landscapes as well as chemicals and minerals formed by the action of liquid water. Mars could have been habitable sometime in the past, and liquid water might persist in some subsurface environments today. Dr. Dave Des Marais, Chair of the Mars Exploration Program Advisory Group (MEPAG), will discuss recent discoveries that are helping to identify the most promising places to search for evidence of life. 

Dr. Jen Blank is a member of the science team for ChemCam, a remote imager and Laser Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (LIBS) remote analysis instrument. ChemCam will be able to determine elemental abundance of a rock up to 7 meters away by zapping it with a laser and detecting excited elemental lines. ChemCam is one of the instrument packages on the Mars Science Laboratory rover that will be launched to Mars next year. Landing site? Still TBD. Come along to hear about NASA's coolest new device for deciphering the geological story of The Red Planet.

Mawrth Vallis has one of the largest exposures of phyllosilicates on Mars. Originally observed by OMEGA, CRISM has refined the detections and allowed positive identification of several phyllosilicate minerals including nontronite, montmorillonite, and kaolinite, as well as hydrated silica, based on their distinct spectral characteristics. The textures and morphologies of these units have been characterized using HiRISE imagery. Nancy McKeown will discuss the identification and mapping of these phyllosilicates and their implications for past climate at Mawrth Vallis.

Dr. Carol Stoker was a member of the Mars Phoenix Lander team that landed a robot in the polar regions of Mars. Dr. Stoker will present an analysis of results from the Mars Phoenix mission to the North Polar region of Mars that shows that conditions are probably habitable for life in modern times at this location. 

 Ancient features such as outflow channels and phyllosilicate mineral outcrops, suggest a large amount of water was once present on the Martian surface. The volume of water required to form these features exceeds the current inventory of water frozen at the Martian poles. Observations of surface craters and large flow features known as lobate debris aprons provide insight into the amount of water ice stored in mid-latitudes.

Recent missions to Mars have provided new evidence that early Mars was at least episodically earth-like with rivers, lakes and possibly oceans, and high rates of aqueous weathering and erosion. Life appears to have arisen early on Earth. Did some form of life start on Mars when conditions on the two planets were similar? Conditions on Mars subsequently changed to become much less hospitable but life, if started, may have maintained a tenuous foothold in isolated niches.

Measurements of magnetic fields and charged particles near Mars made over the past 4 decades teach us about its plasma environment, upper atmosphere, near-surface environment, subsurface, and deep interior. The upper atmosphere and plasma environment of Mars are of interest because they are the sites of energy exchange between the planet and its surroundings, dominated by the Sun and solar wind. It is difficult to understand the state and evolution of the Martian system without understanding this important upper boundary.

The surface mineralogy of Mars provides clues to its geologic history, including aqueous processes. Phyllosilicates and sulfates are key indicators of water on Mars and appear to have occurred in the Noachian and Hesperian, respectively. Dr. Bishop will discuss what we know about Martian mineralogy from orbital and landed missions, meteorites, and terrestrial analog studies.