Recent mineral discoveries resurface age-old debates
The American rover Perseverance, landed in the Neretva Vallis region of Mars last year, has made a groundbreaking discovery. Data sent from the valley to Earth suggests the presence of the minerals vivianite and greigite in the sedimentary rocks of the area. This is the closest finding to a potential indication of life on Mars so far.
Vivianite and greigite are reaction products of compounds generated by bacterial metabolism on Earth. On Mars, these minerals could have formed without biological activity, but over vast geological timescales. Both minerals contain iron in a reduced form, with vivianite being a phosphate and greigite a sulfide.
The discovery of these minerals does not necessarily mean the existence of life on Mars, but it could be evidence of life that existed billions of years ago. The geological context in Neretva Vallis shows no signs of the high temperatures and acidic conditions required for their formation without the influence of microorganisms.
The rover has discovered small colored inclusions in a rock formation called "Bright Angel" that contain enrichments of the iron minerals vivianite and greigite. These chemical compounds found in the Bright Angel formation could have been a rich energy source for microbial metabolism, according to Perseverance scientist Joel Hurowitz.
The discovery of vivianite and greigite in the sedimentary rocks of Neretva Vallis is significant because neither of these minerals had been definitively identified on Mars before this discovery. However, there are methods to determine whether the reduced phosphates and sulfides from the Neretva Vallis are likely of biological origin, but these analyses can only be conducted in laboratories on Earth.
The Mars Sample Return mission, planned by NASA for the 2030s, was cancelled due to harsh cuts in NASA's science budget. However, the sample from the Bright Angel formation on Mars collected by the Perseverance rover shows promising signs of biosignatures, intensifying the scientific and political significance of the mission. The rock samples collected by Perseverance at the site of the minerals under discussion would need to be brought from Mars to Earth for further analysis.
While some scientists, such as Janice Bishop from the SETI Institute, have expressed that such minerals on Mars could have formed without biological activity, the discovery of vivianite and greigite in the sedimentary rocks of Neretva Vallis remains a promising lead in the search for signs of life on Mars. The rover was sent to land in this area due to the presence of the river valley and its sedimentary rocks, and the discovery of these minerals further underlines the importance of the Perseverance mission.
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