Their study has determined that water temperatures on the Red Planet ranged from 50°C to 150°C. Microbes on Earth can live in similar waters, for example in the volcanic thermal springs at Yellowstone Park in the US.
Their conclusions are based on detailed scrutiny of Mars meteorites, using powerful microscopes in the University of Leicester Department of Physics and Astronomy combined with computer modelling work at The Open University.
They studied a type of Mars meteorite called a nakhlite, which contains small veins filled with minerals formed by the action of water near the surface of Mars. Analysis of the minerals indicates the temperature of the water when they were formed.
Microbes can use the reactions which take place during mineral formation to gain energy and elements essential for their survival.
The driving force behind heating the water may have been an impact into the Martian surface, the researchers suggests. The surface of Mars has many impact craters.
The project was led by Dr John Bridges, Reader in Planetary Science in the University of Leicester Space Research Centre; and Dr Susanne Schwenzer, Postdoctoral Research Associate in the Department of Physical Sciences at The Open University, was in charge of the computer modelling.
For more detailed information see OU media release.
Research reference
Bridges J.C. and Schwenzer S.P. The nakhlite hydrothermal brine on Mars. Earth and Planetary Science Letters 359–360 (2012) 117–123.
Photo shows hydrothermal fractures around a Martian impact crater. Image: University of Leicester
