By studying streams on the UK coast, experts have calculated how much organic matter we might find on Mars, and where to look.
By studying streams on the UK coast, experts have calculated how much organic matter we might find on Mars, and where to look.
Dorset is home to highly acidic sulphur streams that host bacteria that thrive in extreme conditions. One such environment, in St Oswald’s Bay, mimics the conditions on Mars billions of years ago.
Now, scientists from Imperial College London have found ancient traces of fatty acids - key building blocks of biological cells – in Dorset’s acidic streams.
Because the environment is so similar to that of Mars during its middle-ages, the findings hint that life might once have existed on the Red Planet.
Using Dorset as Mars' template, study co-author Professor Mark Sephton from Imperial's Department of Earth Science & Engineering and colleagues examined organic matter preserved in St Oswald's Bay's rock deposits.
Read more at Imperial College London
Image: This acid stream in St Oswald's Bay, Dorset, mimics Mars' environment from billions of years ago. (Credit: Imperial College London)
