Habitable periglacial landscapes in Martian mid-latitudes
Subsurface permafrost environments on Mars are considered to be zones where extant life could have survived. For the identification of possible habitats it is important to understand periglacial landscape evolution and related subsurface and environmental conditions. Many landforms that are interpre...
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ftdlr:oai:elib.dlr.de:73152 2023-05-15T16:36:59+02:00 Habitable periglacial landscapes in Martian mid-latitudes Ulrich, M. Wagner, D. Hauber, E. de Vera, Jean Pierre Paul Schirrmeister, Lutz 2012 https://elib.dlr.de/73152/ unknown Elsevier Ulrich, M. und Wagner, D. und Hauber, E. und de Vera, Jean Pierre Paul und Schirrmeister, Lutz (2012) Habitable periglacial landscapes in Martian mid-latitudes. Icarus: International Journal of Solar System Studies, 219 (1), Seiten 345-357. Elsevier. DOI:10.1016/j.icarus.2012.03.019 Planetenphysik Zeitschriftenbeitrag PeerReviewed 2012 ftdlr https://doi.org/10.1016/j.icarus.2012.03.019 2018-12-02T23:51:27Z Subsurface permafrost environments on Mars are considered to be zones where extant life could have survived. For the identification of possible habitats it is important to understand periglacial landscape evolution and related subsurface and environmental conditions. Many landforms that are interpreted to be related to ground ice are located in the Martian mid-latitudinal belts. This paper summarizes the insights gained from studies of terrestrial analogues to permafrost landforms on Mars. The potential habitability of Martian mid-latitude periglacial landscapes is exemplarily deduced for one such landscape, that of Utopia Planitia, by a review and discussion of environmental conditions influencing periglacial landscape evolution. Based on recent calculations of the astronomical forcing of climate changes, specific climate periods are identified within the last 10 Ma when thaw processes and liquid water were probably important for the development of permafrost geomorphology. No periods could be identified within the last 4 Ma which met the suggested threshold criteria for liquid water and habitable conditions. Implications of past and present environmental conditions such as temperature variations, ground-ice conditions, and liquid water activity are discussed with respect to the potential survival of highly-specialized microorganisms known from terrestrial permafrost. We conclude that possible habitable subsurface niches might have been developed in close relation to specific permafrost landform morphology on Mars. These would have probably been dominated by lithoautotrophic microorganisms (i.e. methanogenic archaea). Other Non-Article Part of Journal/Newspaper Ice permafrost German Aerospace Center: elib - DLR electronic library Icarus 219 1 345 357 |
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German Aerospace Center: elib - DLR electronic library |
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unknown |
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Planetenphysik |
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Planetenphysik Ulrich, M. Wagner, D. Hauber, E. de Vera, Jean Pierre Paul Schirrmeister, Lutz Habitable periglacial landscapes in Martian mid-latitudes |
topic_facet |
Planetenphysik |
description |
Subsurface permafrost environments on Mars are considered to be zones where extant life could have survived. For the identification of possible habitats it is important to understand periglacial landscape evolution and related subsurface and environmental conditions. Many landforms that are interpreted to be related to ground ice are located in the Martian mid-latitudinal belts. This paper summarizes the insights gained from studies of terrestrial analogues to permafrost landforms on Mars. The potential habitability of Martian mid-latitude periglacial landscapes is exemplarily deduced for one such landscape, that of Utopia Planitia, by a review and discussion of environmental conditions influencing periglacial landscape evolution. Based on recent calculations of the astronomical forcing of climate changes, specific climate periods are identified within the last 10 Ma when thaw processes and liquid water were probably important for the development of permafrost geomorphology. No periods could be identified within the last 4 Ma which met the suggested threshold criteria for liquid water and habitable conditions. Implications of past and present environmental conditions such as temperature variations, ground-ice conditions, and liquid water activity are discussed with respect to the potential survival of highly-specialized microorganisms known from terrestrial permafrost. We conclude that possible habitable subsurface niches might have been developed in close relation to specific permafrost landform morphology on Mars. These would have probably been dominated by lithoautotrophic microorganisms (i.e. methanogenic archaea). |
format |
Other Non-Article Part of Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Ulrich, M. Wagner, D. Hauber, E. de Vera, Jean Pierre Paul Schirrmeister, Lutz |
author_facet |
Ulrich, M. Wagner, D. Hauber, E. de Vera, Jean Pierre Paul Schirrmeister, Lutz |
author_sort |
Ulrich, M. |
title |
Habitable periglacial landscapes in Martian mid-latitudes |
title_short |
Habitable periglacial landscapes in Martian mid-latitudes |
title_full |
Habitable periglacial landscapes in Martian mid-latitudes |
title_fullStr |
Habitable periglacial landscapes in Martian mid-latitudes |
title_full_unstemmed |
Habitable periglacial landscapes in Martian mid-latitudes |
title_sort |
habitable periglacial landscapes in martian mid-latitudes |
publisher |
Elsevier |
publishDate |
2012 |
url |
https://elib.dlr.de/73152/ |
genre |
Ice permafrost |
genre_facet |
Ice permafrost |
op_relation |
Ulrich, M. und Wagner, D. und Hauber, E. und de Vera, Jean Pierre Paul und Schirrmeister, Lutz (2012) Habitable periglacial landscapes in Martian mid-latitudes. Icarus: International Journal of Solar System Studies, 219 (1), Seiten 345-357. Elsevier. DOI:10.1016/j.icarus.2012.03.019 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.icarus.2012.03.019 |
container_title |
Icarus |
container_volume |
219 |
container_issue |
1 |
container_start_page |
345 |
op_container_end_page |
357 |
_version_ |
1766027303139147776 |