An alkaline spring system within the Del Puerto Ophiolite (California,USA): A Mars analog site |
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| Authors: | JG Blank SJ Green D Blake JW Valley NT Kita A Treiman PF Dobson |
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| Institution: | 1. SETI Institute, 515 N. Whisman Road, Mountain View, CA 94043, USA;2. NASA/Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA 94035, USA;3. Department of Geology and Geophysics, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI 53706, USA;4. Lunar and Planetary Institute, Houston, TX 77058, USA;5. Earth Sciences Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA;1. ASI, Rome, Italy;2. University of Annunzio, Pescara, Italy;3. ESA/ESTEC, Noordwijk, The Netherlands;4. University of Western Ontario, London, Canada;1. School of Earth and Space Exploration, Arizona State University, 201 E. Orange Mall, Tempe, AZ 85287-6305, USA;2. Department of Earth, Environmental and Planetary Sciences, Brown University, Providence, RI, USA;3. Department of Geosciences, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY, USA;1. Aix Marseille Université, CNRS, Université de Toulon, IRD, Mediterranean Institute of Oceanography (MIO), UM 110, 13288 Marseille, France;2. Institut pour la Recherche et le Développement (IRD), Centre de Nouméa, MIO UM 110, Promenade Laroque, 98848 Nouméa, New Caledonia;1. Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics, Penn State University, University Park, PA 16802, USA;2. Center for Exoplanets and Habitable Worlds, Penn State University, University Park, PA 16802, USA;3. NASA Astrobiology Institute Virtual Planetary Laboratory, Seattle, WA 98195, USA;4. Planetary Environments Laboratory, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, 8800 Greenbelt Road, Greenbelt, MD 20771, USA;5. Carl Sagan Institute, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14850, USA;6. Department of Astronomy, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14850, USA;7. Center for Radiophysics and Space Research, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14850, USA;8. Department of Geosciences, Penn State University, University Park, PA 16802, USA;1. Massachusetts Institute of Technology – Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution Joint Program in Oceanography, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA;2. Department of Marine Chemistry and Geochemistry, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole, MA 02543, USA;1. Research Center for Astronomy and Earth Sciences, Konkoly Astronomical Institute, Konkoly Thege Miklos Street 15-17, H-1121, Budapest, Hungary;2. Hungarian Astronomy Non-profit Ltd. (MCSN Kft), Hungary;3. Department of Physical and Applied Geology, Eötvös University, Budapest, Hungary;1. Planetary Science Institute, 1700 East Fort Lowell Blvd., Suite 106, Tucson, AZ 85719, USA;2. University of Wisconsin – Madison, Department of Engineering Physics, 1500 Engineering Drive, Madison, WI 53706, USA;3. University of Wisconsin – Madison, Materials Science Center & Department of Materials Science and Engineering, 1509 University Ave., Madison, WI 53706, USA |
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| Abstract: | Mars appears to have experienced little compositional differentiation of primitive lithosphere, and thus much of the surface of Mars is covered by mafic lavas. On Earth, mafic and ultramafic rocks present in ophiolites, oceanic crust and upper mantle that have been obducted onto land, are therefore good analogs for Mars. The characteristic mineralogy, aqueous geochemistry, and microbial communities of cold-water alkaline springs associated with these mafic and ultramafic rocks represent a particularly compelling analog for potential life-bearing systems. Serpentinization, the reaction of water with mafic minerals such as olivine and pyroxene, yields fluids with unusual chemistry (Mg–OH and Ca–OH waters with pH values up to ～12), as well as heat and hydrogen gas that can sustain subsurface, chemosynthetic ecosystems. The recent observation of seeps from pole-facing crater and canyon walls in the higher Martian latitudes supports the hypothesis that even present conditions might allow for a rock-hosted chemosynthetic biosphere in near-surface regions of the Martian crust. The generation of methane within a zone of active serpentinization, through either abiogenic or biogenic processes, could account for the presence of methane detected in the Martian atmosphere. For all of these reasons, studies of terrestrial alkaline springs associated with mafic and ultramafic rocks are particularly timely. This study focuses on the alkaline Adobe Springs, emanating from mafic and ultramafic rocks of the California Coast Range, where a community of novel bacteria is associated with the precipitation of Mg–Ca carbonate cements. The carbonates may serve as a biosignature that could be used in the search for evidence of life on Mars. |
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