Earth’s Cryosphere, 2012, Vol. XVI, No. 4, p. 67-82

CRYOBIOSPHERE OF EARTH AND THE SEARCH OF LIFE ON MARS

N.E. Demidov, D.A. Gilichinsky , V.A. Mironоv, A.L. Shmakova

Institute of Physicochemical and Biological Problems in Soil Science, RAS, 142290, Moscow region, Pushchino, Institutskaya str., 2, Russia; nikdemidov@mail.ru

At the early Noachian time (4.6–3.7 billion years ago) Mars was evolving in a scenario similar to Earth, that could imply the appearance of life on early Mars. At Hesperian and Amazonian time the global freezing took place on Mars. In the post-Noachian time geothermal oases could be formed on the frozen surface. Those oases could be related to tectonic and volcanic activity and located in ground water effusion areas. Underground microorganisms could be transported to the surface in such locations. It is hard to extrapolate the experience of terrestrial cryobiosphere explorations to Martian analogs because of the great difference in the age of permafrost. Furthermore, most of Martian permafrost was formed without any connection with ground water and in lifeless conditions. The most promising location for the search of life could be permanently frozen sediments of the Polar Volcanic Province. This region includes several young cinder cones and shield-volcanoes at the edge of polar ice cap. There are several Terrestrial analogues of Martian Polar Volcanic Province such as permanently frozen volcanic sediments at Kamchatka peninsula and Antarctic volcanoes. Thermophilic microorganisms have been isolated from the permafrost in both locations. It is necessary to perform shallow drilling (2–3 m) in Polar Volcanic Province on Mars for searching of signs of life. It is possible to realize this prosect by interplanetary automatic stations even nowadays.

Key words: Mars, cryobiosphere, thermophilic microorganisms, permafrost, volcanoes.

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