Detection of Endolithes Using Infrared Spectroscopy
On Earth, the Dry Valleys of Antarctica provide the closest martian-like environment for the study of extremophiles. Colonies of bacteries are protected from the freezing temperatures, the drought and UV light. They represent almost half of the biomass of those regions. Due to there resilience, endo...
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Report |
| Language: | unknown |
| Published: |
arXiv
2007
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://dx.doi.org/10.48550/arxiv.0711.1781 https://arxiv.org/abs/0711.1781 |
| Summary: | On Earth, the Dry Valleys of Antarctica provide the closest martian-like environment for the study of extremophiles. Colonies of bacteries are protected from the freezing temperatures, the drought and UV light. They represent almost half of the biomass of those regions. Due to there resilience, endolithes are one possible model of martian biota. We propose to use infrared spectroscopy to remotely detect those colonies even if there is no obvious sign of their presence. This remote sensing approach reduces the risk of contamination or damage to the samples. : 4 pages, to appear in the proceedings of "Bioastronomy 2007", ed. Meech et al |
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