What can volcanic sulfur on ancient Mars teach scientists about whether microbial life might have existed? This is what a recent study published in Science Advances hopes to address as a team of scientists investigated how ancient volcanism on Mars could have transported sulfur and other materials to the surface. This study has the potential to help scientists better understand how sulfur could have shaped the early climates of Mars and what this could mean for ancient life existing on the Red Planet.
For the study, the researchers used a combination of computers models and Martian meteorites to determine the climate conditions on Mars billions of years ago, specifically regarding the amount of sulfur, carbon, and nitrogen that existed from ancient volcanism. After conducting more than 40 simulations, the researchers discovered that certain types of sulfur compounds could have existed on early Mars, of which could have enabled life to exist in that environment.
Image of sulfur crystals that were accidentally discovered by NASA’s Curiosity rover on Mars when its wheels crushed them. (Credit: NASA)
“The presence of reduced sulfur may have induced a hazy environment which led to the formation of greenhouse gases, such as SF6 [sulfur hexafluoride], that trap heat and liquid water,” said Lucia Bellino, who is a PhD student at the University of Texas at Austin and lead author of the study. “The degassed sulfur species and redox conditions are also found in hydrothermal systems on Earth that sustain diverse microbial life.”
This study comes as the search for ancient life on Mars has reached new heights with NASA recently announcing that the agency’s Perseverance rover might have discovered a potential biosignature on the Red Planet some time last year that could indicate ancient life existed billions of years ago.
What new connections between sulfur and ancient life on Mars will researchers make in the coming years and decades? Only time will tell, and this is why we science!
As always, keep doing science & keep looking up!
Sources: Science Advances, EurekAlert!, NASA