Evidence of travertine and microbe life on Mars
火星上泉华石和微生物存在的证据
Ya-Sheng Wu (吴亚生)1,2, Hong-Xia Jiang (姜红霞)*3
1 University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China.
2 Institute of Geology and Geophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100029, China.
3 Hebei International Joint Research Center for Paleoanthropology, College of Earth Science,
Hebei GEO University, Shijiazhuang 050000, China.
*Corresponding author: Hong-Xia Jiang. Email: jianghx@hgu.edu.cn, wys@mail.igcas.ac.cn.
Abstract
The travertine stone is a rock formed by chemical precipitation of minerals around a spring mouth. It can be mushroom-like or cylindrical, and often has mold holes derived from filamentous microbes. In this study a travertine stone with filamentous mold holes is identified in a microphotograph of Mars’s surface taken by NASA rover Curiosity. The analysis revealed that it was formed in at least six steps: (1) High-pressure hot springs of water supersaturated with carbonate ion and calcium ion flowed from the spring to the surface of Mars, (2) Filamentous microbes or microalgae grew upward or radially around the spring mouth, (3) The carbonate minerals (probably calcite) precipitated on the filaments and eventually filled the interspace between the filaments to form a travertine stone, (4) The mold holes formed from the death and degradation of the filaments, (5) The spring water channel was filled by some white minerals, and (6) The travertine stone underwent weathering. The smooth surface, the presence of mold holes, the shape of big head and small feet, and the fissure-like passage of the spring water filled with white minerals are the key features for identifying this kind of travertine stone. The discovery of this travertine stone indicates that there were once spring and microbes on Mars.
Key words: Mars, travertine stone, mold hole, microbe, life.
Funding: This study was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 41972320) to Ya-Sheng Wu.
Cite it as: Wu, Y.S., Jiang, H.X. 2024.Evidence of travertine and microbe life on Mars. Biopetrology, 4(1): 34-43. https://biopetrology.com/eotaml