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Experts have discovered a wide range of microbes in the shallow, clay-rich soil layers of Chile’s Atacama Desert, which has led scientists to believe a similar process could take place on Mars. The identification of such microbes in some of the driest places on Earth could be used to determine where future Martian probes might land in the best hope of seeking life.
According to research published in the journal Nature Scientific Reports, microbes in Chile were found only one meter below the surface.
If the same is true for Mars, scientists should identify a place where shallow, clay-rich soils could be a hot spot for microbial activity on the Red Planet.
Corresponding author of the new study, Alberto G Fairén, a visiting researcher in the Department of Astronomy at Cornell University, said: “Clays are inhabited by microorganisms.
“Our discovery suggests that something similar could have happened billions of years ago – or could still happen – on Mars.”
Even though the microbes have long since died and disappeared, the evidence would still be present in the biomarkers they left behind and stored in the clay.
Mr. Fairén said: “If the microbes still exist today, the last possible Martian life may still rest there.”
NASA’s Perseverence Rover will land on the Red Planet next year, while European Rosalind Franklin will arrive in 2023.
According to the researchers, their study could be used as a guide in the hunt for life on Mars.
READ MORE: Moon’s Lost Twin Found Hiding Behind Mars “ Trapped in Trojan Clouds ”
Monica Grady, a professor of planetary and space sciences at Open University, wrote in an article for The Conversation: “While this rover will be just one of many on the red planet, it’s our best bet to find life there for the time being.
“Perseverance carries a full set of scientific instruments that measure all the usual things that are measured on Mars: the chemistry and mineralogy of rocks and soil, the amount and type of organic material present and just below the surface, and so on. Street .
Perseverance is the first rover to have the ability to pierce a core, about ten centimeters long and one centimeter in diameter, and extract it intact from the hole.
“Perseverance will take samples from a range of different rock types as it traverses the crater floor.
“The carrots will be left in a small pile – a cache – for harvesting, perhaps early 2027, and subsequent transport to Earth (estimated time of arrival is not yet known, but possibly around spring 2032). “.
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