Cousins, C.R.; (2010) An astrobiological study of high latitude martian analogue environments. Doctoral thesis , UCL (University College London).

Preview

PDF 19640.pdf Download (21MB)

Abstract

The search for life on Mars is in part reliant on the understanding of Martian environments, both past and present, in terms of what life may inhabit these environments, how this life may be preserved in the rock record, and how this rock record may be detected during future missions to Mars. In particular, the upcoming European Space Agency mission ‘ExoMars’ has the primary aim to identify evidence of past or present life on Mars, and the work presented here is carried out within this context. Volcanism is a geological process common to both Earth and Mars, and this work sought to conduct a multidisciplinary astrobiological study of terrestrial volcanic and associated hydrothermal environments that exist geographically at high latitudes. Specifically, subglacial basaltic volcanic environments were explored in terms of phylogenetic diversity, preservation of biosignatures, and habitability under Martian conditions. Additionally, these and other volcanic environments were utilised in the development and testing of the Panoramic Camera – an instrument that will form an integral component of the ExoMars rover instrument suite. Results presented within this thesis demonstrate that subglacially erupted lavas provide a habitat for a diverse bacterial community, and that when such a community is subject to present-day Martian analogue conditions, survivability is significantly enhanced when a simulated subglacial volcanic system (i.e. heat and ice) is present. However, the generation of bioalteration textures – a biosignature common to glassy basaltic lavas – appears to be less common in subglacially-erupted lavas than their oceanic counterparts. Lastly, this work demonstrates the ability of the ExoMars PanCam in the detection of astrobiological targets, and shows the importance of utilising Martian analogue terrains both for biological studies, and also for testing rover instrumentation in preparation for upcoming missions.

Download activity - last month

Export as CSVXMLJSON

Download activity - last 12 months

Export as CSVXMLJSON

Downloads by country - last 12 months

Export as CSVXMLJSON

Archive Staff Only

View Item