Organic Molecules Revealed in the Glen Torridon Region of Gale crater, Mars, by the SAM Instrument on Board Curiosity - INSU - Institut national des sciences de l'Univers Accéder directement au contenu
Communication Dans Un Congrès Année : 2022

Organic Molecules Revealed in the Glen Torridon Region of Gale crater, Mars, by the SAM Instrument on Board Curiosity

Andrew Steele
Caroline Freissinet
Cyril Szopa
Ophélie Mcintosh
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Résumé

Organic molecules, essential to life as we know it, are being searched on Mars by the Sample Analysis at Mars (SAM) instrument on board the Curiosity rover, to better understand the past and/or present habitability of Mars. Terrestrial clay minerals are known for their organic preservation and can be key indicators of past habitable environments. The martian Glen Torridon region in Gale crater is specifically abundant in clay minerals, and to evaluate its organic preservation potential, 7 rock samples were collected and characterized with SAM. The SAM results indicate the presence of various organic compounds, including new sulfur-containing and ring-structured organics and the highest abundance of sulfur organics observed to date, which are likely indigenous to Mars. A portion of these S-bearing molecules may also be related to the presence of chemical reagents carried in SAM, making attribution to a definitive source challenging. Nevertheless, these new SAM results confirm that ancient organic matter is preserved in the clay mineral sediments of Glen Torridon but its origin (meteoritic, abiotic or biotic) has yet to be established
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Dates et versions

insu-04483829 , version 1 (29-02-2024)

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Citer

Maeva Millan, Amy Williams, Amy Mcadam, Jennifer Eigenbrode, Andrew Steele, et al.. Organic Molecules Revealed in the Glen Torridon Region of Gale crater, Mars, by the SAM Instrument on Board Curiosity. The Astrobiology Science Conference (AbSciCon) 2022, May 2022, Atlanta, United States. pp.id. 125-05. ⟨insu-04483829⟩
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